Rifts Between Worlds
by chief of RAGE
Summary: [Original Chapters Reinserted, Story Renamed] A different take on the original MIR. A somewhat more serious approach as opposed to the original. When the mercenaries are warped to the world of Remnant, they're left wondering where they are and how they can get back. While they scrape by, dark disturbances rumble in the void between worlds...
1. Chapter 1

**The original chapters of the rewrite before getting replaced. Designated as "MiR V2 Chp. # A0"**

 **This is "MiR V2 Chp. 1 A0", and the rest will be named accordingly.**

* * *

 **Gray Gravel Co. HQ, Southern Coast of California, 1972**

Gray Mann's headquarters. Located on a rather ominous offshore island connected to the mainland with a very wide bridge, the island was the center of Gray's operations, and if you want to be technical, the headquarters of Mann Co. after he took over the company and moved the headquarters here. Factories producing legions of robots and Gray Co. products covered the island, ultimately making a complex that could rival Mann Co. HQ back in the Badlands in size.

There was nothing stopping him from ruling the world since he owned the world's largest and most powerful company, and he even captured the only opposition that stood in his way. With the help of the previous generation of mercenaries who fought for Mann Co., Gray captured Team Fortress, Heavy's sister Zhanna, and Ms. Pauling, meaning the aging Administrator had nothing against him now. With the Administrator effectively harmless, Gray set his sights on the world at large.

At least until he literally had his spine ripped out. Like, his spine was a life extending machine that was keeping him alive and it was forcefully removed in an unpleasant manner.

Gray had been betrayed by the team of mercenaries he hired to help him find the world's remaining Australium when these jerks decided to take over his operations for themselves. After killing him and taking control of his robot army, the mercenaries of Team Classic aimed to make themselves live forever using the remaining Australium Gray had left. Once they eventually figured out how to make themselves immortal, they decided to take it to the next step and rule the world through Mann Co. since they technically own it, and with the robot army and immortality on their side, nobody could've stopped them.

Take a guess at what actually ended up happening though.

They won.

Nah, nah, just fucking with you. What actually happened was that _**THEY GOT FUCKING DENIED!**_

Team Classic fucked up, because they didn't count on Team Fortress somehow breaking out of their containment to come in fighting with a vengeance. On the other hand, Team Fortress and their allies also fucked up because they didn't have any weapons due to Team Classic taking their personal inventories away. With no guns and a big ass robot army facing them, it seemed like Team Fortress was doomed. Until **BAM** , reinforcements arrived! Saxton Hale and his partner Margaret, Engineer, and the Australium charged Administrator, came dropping in from a plane filled with crates of weapons to help the gang out.

Ultimately, the battle boiled down into this: A nine vs. nine battle to the death between Team Fortress and Team Classic, and Team Fortress' allies fighting off the robotic minions of Team Classic. It was a harsh and fierce battle, but Team Fortress reigned victorious over the arrogant and smug ass elder mercenaries of Team Classic. Nobody should underestimate them just because they are considered the worst mercenaries in the world. The robots were soon deactivated, and Mann Co. is rightfully back in the hands of Saxton Hale.

Then, another betrayal happened. With less than an hour left to live, the Australium fueled Administrator turned her power against Team Fortress and their allies since she didn't need them anymore. She wanted to spend the last moments on Earth carrying out her final wish, and Team Fortress and her former allies were now in the way. They weren't completely sure about what she wanted to do, but according to Gray Mann before he died it was something that would be infinitely worse to the world than whatever Gray was going to do with that power. So yet another massive battle happened between the Administrator and Team Fortress, and at the end, Team Fortress won again with the help of their friends. The defeated Administrator lay on the ground amidst pools of wasted Australium, blood, dead Classic mercenaries, and dead robots. Her final wish never came true, and her life faded away when the last hour of life granted by the Australium ran out.

 **DOUBLE DENIAL**

With the Administrator dead, Ms. Pauling takes up her place and now manages both teams.

So that's the conclusion of the last Mann Co. war in summary.

This all happened today, and now that it was all over, the mercs began partying it up in victory. In all of their history together, this was by far the most meaningful and greatest moment of their careers. Like they do anytime they get in a major victory, they broke out into victory dances and partying as they began burning Gray Mann's HQ to the ground. Their laughter and cheers could be heard for miles around the island, alongside the sounds of explosions and burning buildings.

"HAHAHA! FREEEEEEEDOM!" Demoman whooped in joy right before detonating a large stack of bombs that caused a building to cave in. The resulting explosion blew up like a bunch of fireworks, probably because there actually was fireworks inside that building, and it made the boys cheer as it went up in colorful flames. Pyro immediately got to work dressed in a little fireman's suit and poured more gasoline into the roaring flames of the place.

Essentially, the party was them burning their enemies' shit to the ground. A perfectly fitting way to celebrate considering all the stuff the boys have been through. The victorious team didn't stop there, for they kept partying when Engie set the Teleporter for them to return to Mann Co. HQ in the Badlands.

Here in the comfort of their HQ, the partying got even more intense. A large bonfire was lit up in the central plaza in front of the main building, and the guys began dancing around it with the bright light of the fire lighting the night. Even victory booze was broken out, and the boys started drinking it all up in a craze. Currently, the guys were all in one big Conga line with Ms. Pauling joining in. Zhanna actually left at her brother's command to go back with their family, for she was needed to watch over her family in Heavy's absence. She was okay with that though as she was still going to marry Soldier later, and she understood her brother needed time to just be with his friends. Saxton Hale and Margaret were inside the main building, talking about whatever they were going to do with Charles Darling.

"Gentlemen! Please! May I have your attentions for a moment!" Spy called out as he jumped on top of a crate, all eyes on him. He was feeling a little hazy from his alcohol consumption, but he was still sensible enough to talk. "Gentlemen, tonight we celebrate our ultimate victory!" He cheered, earning cheers from everyone else in response. "For the past five years, we were the team of horribly mismatched individuals have fought against impossible and unlikely situations under the service of Mann Co., and we still are. Everything from aliens, zombies, supernatural creatures, a Godforsaken wizard, even each other, and countless other enemies over the years... but then the gravest enemy of them all, Gray Mann and his army of robotic lookalikes of us! The coward even hired our predecessors to fight us. But... as you all know, _haha_ , we have defeated them all! We are victorious!"

The mercs cheered and yelled happily in response. Spy smiled at the warm reception he was getting from his friends. They may not necessarily like each other all that much, but when it comes down to it they are a family. A band of brothers forged through battle against the enemies they faced... even if it was each other originally. They will beat, kill, and insult each other, but in the end they are all friends. With these warm thoughts in mind, Spy held a glass of wine up and faced the assembled team again.

"The past five years have been nothing but senseless violence and idiotic antics..." He muttered out. "...it was the best years of my life. It has been an honor to fight alongside you all. Now cheers!" He smiled, raising his wine glass high into the air.

"Cheers!" Everyone yelled, before taking drinks of their alcohol.

Then, Saxton Hale came down with Margaret who was an old flame of his.

"Oh hey, there's Saxton Hale!" Scout called out to the rest. "Sup Mr. Hale, wanna party with us?"

"I would love to, boys! But I got something way more important than partying to tell you all. I'm going to be building myself a hunting reserve right here at Mann Co. HQ, and you're all in the way. So you're all fired!" The manliest motherfucker in the world said with a smile under his mustache. Right at that moment, all sense of partying died down. Well... this wasn't completely unexpected. The only reason why the boys were rehired was to retake Mann Co., and now that Mann Co. was in its proper hands again, there's no reason to keep them around. "Now bugger off, before you have to face me! SAXTON HALE!"

Understandably, the team complied. There was some hesitation, but nobody wanted to fight the world's manliest man after they had the greatest fight of their lives earlier today. With their mood killed, they all grumbled and complained about getting kicked out as they left the premises. Miss Pauling wasn't fired for she was needed to manage the hats and weapons of Mann Co., but she still walked with the team as they made their way out of there. At least Saxton Hale was nice enough to let them keep their personal inventories and all the money they earned.

"I'm so sorry about this guys." She apologized sadly as she saw the depression on them.

"It's alright, Miss Pauling." Engie said, giving her a small smile. "Least we're getting paid for all our service."

"If there's anything you guys need, you know who to call." Pauling said, giving them a nice smile back since these guys are pretty much her only friends. She followed them all the way to the entrance of the HQ, where she waved them goodbye and watched them head to their vehicles.

"Ahhhh, this blows!" Scout groaned. "Welp, guess Hardhat's got a point about the money thing. Ma's not gonna be mad at me for wasting our life's savings now!"

"Ja. I am thinking of opening my own clinic using my share of ze money." Medic said. Some of the other teammates cringed at the idea of Medic having his own public medical office, that man's not sane enough for that... "Vat about you, Sniper?"

"Eh, I think I'll just head back to Australia." Sniper shrugged. "Might just take up hunting dangerous animals for money again. Still... it's a bloody shame how we're out of the job, mates..." Sniper sighed.

"Why so down, Sniper? We're bloody millionaires!" Demo yelled with a smile.

"Yeah, Tavish, but aren't you forgetting that we ain't in a team anymore? Mann Co's. the only reason we're even together, and now that we don't have the job anymore..." He trailed, letting the others figure it out for themselves. Sniper had a valid point, and it made the guys feel depressed inside. They were pretty much the only friends that any of them got, and now they were going to get separated so soon after a major celebration.

"Well... let's just be happy that we were able to celebrate our final moments as a team together." Spy spoke up.

"French bastard's right!" Soldier said, earning a glare from Spy. "Maggots, you are all the greatest bunch of killers I have ever seen! I am proud to have served alongside such a distinguished unit!" Soldier then gave a salute and quite proud smile. Everyone was genuinely touched by this. For Soldier to actually care about them and show such affection like this was rare.

"Well, look on the bright side, fellas... we're still millionaires, and there ain't a thing stopping us from meeting up with each other again after all this. Tell you what, how about y'all stop by my ranch sometime and we'll have us a good ole Texas style barbecue." Engie smiled. The team smiled back and responded with a big 'yes'. They may not be working together again, but that doesn't mean they can't still hangout.

So they all loaded into their vehicles and decided to drive down to Teufort so they could rest for the night. Spy drove his fancy sports car, Medic drove in his Ambulance with Heavy and Scout, Sniper drove his Camper Van, and Engie drove the Bread Van Hale let them keep with Soldier and Demoman. Pyro was riding in a shopping cart being dragged along the road with a rope attached to the Bread Van. From Teufort, the team was going to drive together all the way down to Santa Fe where they will finally part ways at the airport there.

A full moon was out tonight in the desert, and the lonely sight of four vehicles and a shopping cart driving along a highway was the only thing that disturbed the night's peace. No noises except for that of the engines, Pyro's shopping cart, and the occasional howl of a coyote were heard that night, only making things feel more lonely even though they were all together.

Unfortunately, they made it nowhere near Teufort though because the alcohol was _really_ starting to hit them, swerving all over the road and shit and nearly hitting each other... Spy signaled for all of them to pull over.

 _"Okay gentlemen... I think we should make camp and rest heeeeeeeeerrrre..._ *thud*" And just like that, Spy had passed out right outside of his sports car.

The rest of the crew wasn't much better, for they had either passed out inside their vehicles or tried to set up camp only to also pass out. At least they were able to build up a campfire first, a campfire that Pyro fell asleep in because it thought the fire was a nice bed of soft flowers. While the crew tried to find something to sleep on, Engineer already got his bed right with him. The Texan planned to sleep on his Rancho Relaxo, except that's not what ended up happening at all. Poor Texan was so drunk off his mind that he mistook the toolbox containing his Teleporter for the one that had the Rancho Relaxo in it, and he was still totally oblivious to it as he stumbled around looking for a comfortable spot.

" _No... too many rocks..._ " He slurred as he walked by a pile of gravel.

He walked past where Soldier had fallen asleep on a cactus until he saw something shiny on the ground. His vision was absolutely fucked due to the alcohol clouding his mind and judgement, but he was looking at a strange white crystal glistening in the moonlight. Engie had no idea what it was, but he thought it was a pretty cool item to keep. As a result, he threw the crystal into the toolbox and kept on his merry way. Then he settled on setting down next to the campfire where Pyro lay cozy and snug as a baby in the warm flames. With a tired smile on his face, the Texan placed the toolbox down and flopped down onto it like a fish, forgetting that he had to wait for it to build first before using it. The impact knocked him out cold, and soon he was dreaming about science and equations in total bliss.

It was here that something was happening to the Teleporter. The team didn't notice because they had all passed out, but blindingly bright lights began beaming out of the cracks in the toolbox, and it began shaking violently. It then burst wide open, the Teleporter going insane as it was having some kind of violent reaction to whatever that crystal was, and soon it was fully built and spinning so much faster than it was supposed to normally. The bright white light that came from it grew bigger and bigger in size, and soon the entire area for miles around was illuminated by the light. The light was so intense, that it could be seen all the way from Mann Co. HQ that they honestly did not make it _that_ far from.

The teleporter was getting so unstable, that it couldn't hold the energy back any longer. A discharge of white light happened, causing a rift in reality to appear. Soon, the gang, their vehicles, and some rocks and cacti were sucked in and had disappeared from the area entirely. Not a single trace of them was left on Earth...

* * *

 **The Void**

When the team woke up, they found themselves floating in midair, wondering where the actual fuck the desert went. Wherever they were, this place was as far away from a desert as one can get in the most serious way possible. There was no floor they could see and everything was just floating around like they were in outer space, but they couldn't move freely for there was some kind of unseen force pulling them along this plain of existence like an invisible river.

This place was really weird, and the mercs felt like they must've been high off of something since alcohol doesn't make people hallucinate this bad... usually.

There was no sky and no floor, and the world appeared to be a mostly black background with an endless sea of colorful... colors. Kinda like space. Everything was lit up perfectly even though there was no major sources of light and there even were no shadows. Everything looked like there was no shading! That wasn't it though, for there were these weird portal things that numbered in the millions around here, maybe infinite for all the mercs knew. These portals showed things they've never seen before, worlds where little girls fight monsters, worlds where people are monsters, other strange shit like that...

To top off this acid trip adventure, every now and then they would see some figures and creatures wandering around this place. The most notable of which being a fat Human man atop a throne made out of PCs and, money magically flying about him. They could swear that they could hear the fat man utter out "Gaben" or something when they floated by him. The other figure was an Asian man at a floating desk with all kinds of "anime" looking stuff on his workspace or whatever the Japanese called their stuff.

The figures didn't say a single word to them as they drifted by, but they did give them a smile and a wave goodbye. At first, the boys didn't know why they would wave them goodbye, but then they found out it was because they were floating right into one of those portal things that filled this vast endless space. The portal was different from the rest in that it was glowing white, just like the rift in reality that brought them here.

They were helpless to resist going into it, and soon another bright light engulfed them.

* * *

 **Vale, Faunus District, Remnant**

It was early morning in Vale, so early that the sun hadn't come out yet. Only the faintest rays of sunlight could be seen over the horizon. The Faunus residents of the poor district were mostly still in bed, but there were some others walking about. Either they were a nocturnal breed of Faunus, or they just naturally wake up early. That's why it largely went unnoticed when four cars and nine men just plopped down into the streets in a flash of light.

"Ugh... where the Hell are we?" Spy groaned, clutching his head for they were still feeling the alcoholic effects. He looked around the area, and saw that it was still dark out and they were somehow in some city. He could make out some stunned people nearby, but he couldn't tell much else about them from here due to the darkness and his hazy sight.

"Don't have a bloody clue, mate." Demo said. He was perfectly fine since that guy's resistance to alcohol is insane, and he recovers at a ludicrous speed as well. Then, they were all woken up by the sound of a car honking its horn. Apparently, the guys were blocking the whole road and there were a couple of cars waiting for them to move.

"Well wherever we are, I think it's best if we got back into our vehicles before we wake the whole neighborhood up." Spy suggested, to which the team agreed.

They could figure out where they were later, but for now they needed to find a secure spot so they could collect themselves. So they all loaded back into their vehicles with the previous drivers getting behind the wheel, except for the Bread Van...

Soldier had beaten Engie to the Bread Van. Don't get it wrong, they were by no means in any condition to drive, but God please have mercy whenever Soldier drives. That man claims to, quote "HAVE RAN OVER HUNDREDS OF NAZIS IN A JEEP" as his driving experience, and the alcohol's not making his driving skills any better.

So it shouldn't be a surprise then when Soldier got behind the wheel of the Bread Van and immediately rammed it into a warehouse lining the street. The impact broke straight through the wall and sent Soldier flying out the windshield. Luckily, there were no others in the vehicle with him. The mercs drove the rest of their vehicles off the street and onto the sidewalk so they wouldn't impede traffic, and went to see if Soldier was okay.

"Dammit Soldier, you freakin' moron!" Scout insulted the patriot as he peered into the hole. The team followed him into the large hole in the brick building and collectively shook their heads at Soldier's usual stupidity.

"Ve are so sorry for ze wall! Our friend here is a little stupid!" Medic apologized to the people inside the warehouse, only for all the mercenaries to stop dead in their tracks.

They had no idea what they just walked into, but they just crashed a big White Fang rally in a very literal way. Dozens of people in masks and black and white uniforms were all over the place as well as people wearing the same masks but in civilian clothing. They were all armed with some kind of gun or melee weapon, but that's not the thing that the mercs were most surprised about. These people, every single one of them, had _animal_ features on them. For instance, the person closest to them was a young woman who appeared to have ram horns growing from her skull. Looking back out into the street, the mercs also saw the few people there also had the same kind of animal features.

...

"Um... we're sorry?" Sniper said after a brief awkward silence. At once, every single one of the White Fang pointed their weapons at them, their eyes glaring from under their masks. The mercenaries weren't ones to take this lightly, and so they immediately responded by pulling their own weapons out and leveling it at them.

"GET THE HUMANS!" Someone from the back yelled, and just like that, all Hell broke loose. Gunfire rained down on the mercenaries, and it would have torn them to shreds had it not been for Medic jumping in front of them and activating his MediShield.

"Now! FIRE!" Spy yelled out, making all the mercenaries return fire at once from the safety of their shield. Soldier decided to take it to the next step and threw all his grenades out into the crowd alongside the murderous fire of the mercs. The explosions from the gang threw dozens of the White Fang about the place, stunning them, and giving the mercs a chance to whoop the shit out of them the only way they know how.

Medic's shield had ran out by now, and he focused his Medigun on Heavy as the mercs advanced on the Fang. Nobody tries to kill them and gets away with it! There was no room at all for defense here, so the mercs pushed the advantage of the stunned Fang to go in for an all out attack. Every single merc went on the offensive and aggressively and viciously engaged the Fang.

Sniper, Spy, and Engineer couldn't really do what their intended roles were this close, so they went all out with the rest of their team. Sniper had his SMG out while slashing and cutting at any bastards who got close enough with his Kukri, Spy had his Revolver out to burst some heads alongside beating the fuck out of all opposition with his martial arts prowess and Butterfly Knife, Engie had the Widowmaker out and was filling people full of lead, Heavy was slaughtering them with his Minigun, Pyro torched them in their dozens with its Flamethrower, Scout was bashing and blowing heads open with his Bat and Scattergun, and Soldier and Demoman were showing the Fang what's good in savage melee combat with a grenade and rocket every now and then.

The battle was extremely one sided. The Fang didn't stand a single chance against these veteran mercs who've fought things they could only imagine.

From a balcony at the back of the warehouse, a man in a white coat and _bitching_ fine bowler hat appeared. At his side was a short young girl with colors like Neapolitan ice cream. He was very surprised to say the least about the sudden battle.

"What is going on here!?" Roman Torchwick yelled over the chaos and noise.

Nobody answered him, but they didn't need to for the answer was right in front of his face. He didn't know who these guys were or how they knew they would be holding a rally now, but the one thing he did know was that they were enemies. With this in mind, he raised _Melodic Cudgel_ and put it into firing mode, blasting a few explosive flares at the mercenaries. The flares surprised the mercs and caught them off guard, but the only flares that actually hit someone was on Soldier who tanked the hit like a champ. The patriot was _pissed_ , and he looked up at Roman with a scowl. Seeing his new enemy, Soldier fired a single rocket at his location before rocket jumping over there. Roman and Neo easily dodged the rocket though the explosion did throw them off, but what they did not expect was the same person who fired the rocket suddenly flying at them!

"SCREAMING EAGLES!" Soldier screamed out as he performed a devastating rocket dropkick on Roman. It's like a regular dropkick EXCEPT WITH ROCKET JUMPING! The blow wasn't enough to knock Roman out, but Soldier solved that problem with a finishing blow across the face with his Frying Pan. Just like that, Roman was out of the fight already, and before Soldier could kill him, Neo dropkicked him herself. Her tiny dropkick didn't knock Soldier down. It only sent him skidding back with him wondering what had just hit him.

When he did see what hit him, he got very angry.

"WHAT!? A LITTLE GIRL!? _**HERE!?**_ " Soldier screamed in RAGE. "YOU DON'T BELONG HERE, SALLY! THE BATTLEFIELD IS A MAN'S WORLD! WHY DON'T YOU GO PLAY WITH YOUR LITTLE DOLLS BEFORE I SEND YOU HOME CRYING!?"

Neo's response was to stick her tongue out, giving him a cocky grin. This pissed Soldier the fuck off, and so he walked up to his much shorter opponent until they were only a foot away from each other, glaring back into her smug eyes. Then, with a mighty yell Soldier reared a fist back to sock her in the face, only for her to shatter into pieces like she was made of glass! Soldier was surprised, but he was still alert. That's why when Neo appeared behind him to deliver a crushing kick to his spine, he instinctively reacted by grabbing her petite little leg and squeezing it painfully.

"Ha! That's not gonna work on me, girl!" Soldier laughed before slamming her into a nearby crate. He was far too experienced from fighting Spy to fall for that trick. Laughing at the girl he just smashed into a crate, he pulled out the Disciplinary Action out and smacked it across his hands. "I'll show you what happens when little girls like you try to come into a man's world!" He went in for a smack across her back as punishment, but then she teleported out of there using her semblance. Soldier was surprised again as he hadn't figured out teleporting was just something Neo could do, and so he was given a harsh kick to the face by the girl when she reappeared.

Neo was aggressively attacking now, kicking Soldier's Disciplinary Action out of his hands and following it up with a punishing combo of kicks and strikes with her umbrella onto him. To her surprise, this old man was able to keep up with her every move! Soldier simply pulled his trusty old Shovel out and began parrying and dodging all of her attacks. To be fair, Soldier couldn't land a hit back since she was too nimble and agile for him. Soon, Soldier rushed forward and locked his Shovel with her umbrella, using his superior strength to push her back.

"Ha! There's no chance of you beating me!" Soldier boasted. "I have personally killed 6000 men in World War 2, and approximately thousands more! I have won millions of swordfights, gunfights, fistfights, I even beat a tank with nothing but a couple of rocks! I AM A TRUE AMERICAN WARRIOR!"

He then gave her a headbutt, though once again Neo had shattered into pieces and teleported out of there to dodge the hit. Now she was gonna use her semblance to her full advantage against him. Popping up all over the place, she barraged the shit out of Soldier with volleys of kicks, punches, and umbrella strikes in order to whiter him down so she could finish him off. Her tactic appeared to be working as Soldier couldn't keep up with her now. Neo was feeling confident in victory again, but then that confidence was literally blown away when Soldier took his Rocket Launcher out and shot down at his feet. The ensuing explosion knocked Neo away and forced her to back off, only for Soldier to land a rocket directly onto her chest while she was stunned. Laughing maniacally, the American quickly reloaded his weapon and began DUAL-WIELDING with The Original.

"BETTER START RUNNING, GIRL!" Rapid fire rockets were soon fired at Neo, and she found herself struggling to dodge them all.

Even if she could dodge them, it didn't matter much because Soldier was clever enough to aim at the floor instead of her body, meaning she took damage from each rocket and even began tumbling and flying around from being juggled by Soldier. Once his rockets ran out, Soldier sprinted forward with the Reserve Shooter and shot her out of the air with a well placed rocket. Neo thudded onto the floor in pain, her aura dropped considerably. She painfully stood up to her feet and looked up to the helmeted madman approaching her with his Reserve Shooter leveled on her.

"Surrender now and I will only shove one boot up your ass!" He yelled, pumping a round into the weapon and laughing evilly.

Neo gulped in fear. This man was insane, and he scared her. She took a moment to glance over at the other men, and she saw that they had massacred the shit out of the Fang. In fact, there were no more grunts left to face them and the mercs were all just watching Soldier fight her from below.

"NO THINKING!" Soldier screamed, interrupting her from thinking when he suddenly rushed her. Soldier hates thinking.

The patriot decided to ditch the Reserve Shooter and fight her the old fashioned way, with his Shovel. Again, Shovel and umbrella locked together as Soldier began pushing her off the edge, her shoes skidding slowly as she struggled to hold him back. Soldier chuckled to himself, but then he stopped when the girl tried to kick him up his crotch. He was quick enough to jump back, the tips of her shoes narrowly touching his crotch, and caught her leg. He was gonna make another boast, but then Neo countered by simply throwing up her other leg at him. The kick connected and was strong enough to get Soldier to let go of her and stumble back. Now that he was stunned, Neo took this chance to release the sharp spike of her umbrella so that she could kill him. Before Soldier could react, Neo had ran her spike right into his belly and began pushing back.

She thought she had won when she heard his gasp of pain, but that hope was dashed when he socked her in the face. Then no bullshit, Soldier yelled like a gorilla and jumped right onto her shoulders! Neo's umbrella was still stuck in his belly, but Soldier didn't seem to give a single shit as he was now savagely beating his fists into Neo's head like an ape. If Neo could yell, she totally would as she stumbled about the place trying to get him off of her. Soldier was very much like a Jockey from Left 4 Dead 2 right now as he refused to let go even when Neo began teleporting all over the place wildly in the hopes of making him letting her go.

"ADMIT. YOU. HATE. AMERICA!" Soldier screamed with emphasis on every word. Neo was so desperate, that she seriously fell off the balcony back first so that Soldier would take the full force of the fall. Her idea seemed to work, for Soldier actually curled up in pain and clutched his back, releasing her. Shakily getting up to her feet, she pulled her umbrella out of him and got ready to stab him in the neck, before **SHEEK!** A giant needle found itself lodged into Soldier's head! Neo was surprised but relieved, happy that he was dead but a little upset that she couldn't kill him herself.

...or so she thought.

"WA-POW!" Soldier screamed with a smile as he uppercutted her so hard that Neo flew right back up to the balcony. "HA! Told you victory was mine!" Soldier yelled up to her, giving Medic a thumbs up for helping him out.

Alright, Neo had more than enough of this insane man. She was outnumbered and outmatched in everywhere, and she knew this as she fearfully looked down at the men gathered below her. At once, she decided it was time to leave and grabbed Roman before teleporting the fuck out of there.

"WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU RUN!? I KNEW YOU COULDN'T HANDLE BEING IN THE BATTLEFIELD!" Soldier roared. "AFTER HER!" He then tried to run out of the building with his Shotgun brandished, but then he was held back by Heavy, Demoman, and Pyro.

"Let her go, John. She's just a kid after all." Engie told his fellow American, who wasn't listening at all. "Welp, now that that's done, let's get out of here." Engie said.

"Looks like we ain't going anywhere, mate. Bloody cops are all over the place!" Sniper called from the entrance of the ruined warehouse.

The other mercenaries came to him to see what he meant, peeking out the doors and windows when they heard and saw the distinctive signs of police coming to the area. The local police force had already cordoned off the area, and they could see the cops holding back the civilians who came to see what was going on. The law enforcement made no aggressive move yet on the warehouse but there was no doubt that they would be mounting up a SWAT team soon.

"Those don't look like any cops I seen before..." Scout said, and he should know since this guys gets into more trouble with the law than most of the mercenaries.

"Mphmhm Mphmhm rmhpa!" Pyro muffled.

"What the bloody Hell are you saying?" Demo asked. "What do you mean we're not on Earth anymore?"

"Rhoomph!" Pyro pointed up into the sky, and though the sun was beginning to peer over the horizon, the mercs could still see the moon. This is where there jaws dropped. The moon was shattered.

"...explains how that girl could do all of that..." Spy muttered out, glancing over to the police. The officers appeared to be Human instead of Faunus, so at least they knew that Humans existed here. Come to think of it, that girl and the man that Soldier fought also appeared to be Human as well.

Just where in the world were they? Whatever the answer is will be found later, for the mercs decided to pull back into the warehouse and kick back until something happens. No sense in going out there and getting into even more trouble with the law if the police think they're hostile...


	2. Chapter 2

**MiR V2 Chp. 2 A0**

* * *

 **Fifteen Minutes Later**

The police did not take very long to properly respond to the severe disturbance of the peace. Police Heavy Law Enforcer teams as well as Atlesian squads who offered to assist had been called and they were gearing up to assault the building. The authorities didn't know if they were dangerous criminals holding people hostage inside the building or what have you, and they didn't know anything about the White Fang holding this place as a hideout. An officer called out to the gang for them to come out peacefully, but the mercs did not respond. After a five minute warning, the police had moved in for a tactical takedown on the building only to find nothing but dead or wounded White Fang all over the place.

Little did the cops know, the mercs had slipped out into the sewers from a grate inside the building and were long gone. This grate was used by the Fang to secretly smuggle weapons and dust into their scattered bases across the city, and now the mercenaries were making full use of it for their own needs. The mercs reemerged from the sewers a few blocks away outside of the Faunus district, and they found themselves out in an alleyway of downtown Vale.

The sun was shining over the horizon now, and people across the city were waking up to begin their days.

"Welp, that was way easier than I thought it was gonna be..." Sniper said as they crawled out of the sewer.

"Yeah, I thought we were gonna have to fight 'em off like we usually do!" Scout said. "So... any of you guys know where we are yet?"

"I saw words 'City of Vale Police Department' on the police cars, so we are in some city called Vale. I have never heard of it before... though considering how the moon in this world is shattered and there are people with animal ears and such, I do not think anyone on Earth has heard of it before either." Spy said.

"Mphmhm rmhpm mrr?" Pyro asked.

"Good question Pyro. I'm thinking we should take a walk around these parts. Gather up some information and maybe set up some kind of base later. What do y'all think about that?" The Texan asked.

"Aye, sounds good to me." The resident black Scot of them responded.

"Heavy is okay with this."

"Eh, okay mate." Sniper said.

So Team Fortress strolled around the city for a good while. The streets were much cleaner here than in the Faunus district they were in before, and there were more and more normal Humans as far as they could tell. Noticeably, the streetlights and traffic signs in this city appeared to be holographic or something futuristic like that, but the rest of the city seemed quite normal. The buildings and layout looked like they could be from an American city on the East Coast, and there was a strange lack of tall skyscraper-like buildings here from what they could see. After maybe an hour of walking, the gang decided to stop by a store and see what they had here. The store was called "From Dust Till Dawn", and it wasn't much else than just a small business selling something called "dust". There was other stuff in the store as well, but dust was the biggest thing this place sold.

"Excuse me sir, but what does this dust you have in your establishment do?" Spy asked the old man who runs the store with Engineer and Medic, while the other mercenaries were just out and about. The owner looked at them funny since he thought they pretended like they didn't know what dust was, but he ended up explaining to them anyway.

Soldier and Demoman stood outside and waited and Scout was interested in some comics he found in the place. Pyro, Heavy, and Sniper were also inside the store, but they were busy checking out some gun magazines they found. There was one single other person in the store who wasn't a mercenary, that being a small teenage girl wearing a red cape over a Gothic style black getup complete with red highlights. She was rather shy, and quietly kept to herself as she also read gun magazines with the mercs by her. Pyro being the friendly little thing it is, decided to be nice and start some conversation.

"Mmphm." It said, turning to face her.

" _Hi..._ " She shyly smiled before getting back into her magazine.

"Mphmm hmpmh mphho?" Pyro asked, pointing at one of Atlas' latest assault rifle on her magazine.

"Um, excuse me?" She blinked, not quite sure what it was asking.

Ruby didn't know what to do here. She was terrible at socializing, much less publicly out in the city all by her lonesome. This stranger wearing a full on flameproof suit and mask just asked her something that she couldn't understand because it was so muffled, and she was beginning to feel a little creeped out. The soulless lenses of the mask stared at her, and she instinctively stepped back in fright, accidentally bumping into Heavy. She turned around shakily and was greeted with the also frightening sight of the huge Russian man looking down at her.

"Zdravtsvuyte." Heavy greeted in his native language, giving her a little nod.

"U-um hi..." Ruby shook, giving a forced smile to be friendly. She was beginning to fear that these guys didn't speak something she could understand, but then Heavy just showed her a picture of an assault cannon on the magazine he was reading.

"Gun is nice, yeah?" He said in English which made her sigh in relief, though he spoke it very strangely.

"Yeah, it is."

"Is very big gun, and I like big guns." He said. "Heavy likes weapons."

"You do?" Ruby brightened up, excited to meet someone who may share her interests for once.

"Da, Heavy likes to attend gun expo and see all the newest guns on market." He nodded, then noticing that she had a gun magazine of her own. "Does little girl like weapons too?"

"Yeah... yeah, I do. I really like this rocket axe right here. It's so beautifully made, and it has enough power in its rockets to blow a Beowolf into a million pieces!"

"Heavy likes this weapon too. Is big and strong like me, but rocket launcher is not my type of weapon."

"Hmm? Not your type? Well, what do you prefer then?" She asked, not feeling all that shy anymore. Ruby was beginning to feel like this total stranger wasn't that bad at all. His size just made him look scary, and now she was honestly interested to here what he wants to say. She expected him to answer her with words, but instead Heavy answered her in the easiest way possible. He reached into the little pouch he's got on his right side, and to her utter surprise he pulled out his signature Minigun.

"Heavy likes miniguns. Big weapons that can fire so many bullets that nothing can stand in way. This is Sasha, my most precious weapon." He said fondly, giving his beloved weapon a hug. Ruby would have stopped to question how he pulled such a large handheld weapon out of his pocket without it shifting or anything like her weapon does, but the weapon geek within her had taken full control.

"Oooooooh!" She awed with stars in her eyes, her grubby little hands eagerly wanting to touch the weapon. Heavy's response was to pull it away from her.

"No. No one touches Sasha without my permission." He said seriously, scaring her a little. "But I will be happy to tell you weapon specifics. Sasha fires-"

"Heavy! C'mon partner, we're heading out." Engineer called out to him as he and the others were already exiting the store. Heavy and Ruby looked at him, and then back to each other. The Russian man sighed and magically put his Minigun away.

"I am sorry, but Heavy must go now. What is your name?"

"Me? I'm Ruby Rose." She answered politely, just happy that this didn't turn out awkwardly like how her usual interactions with strangers go.

"Mikhail Medvedev, but official job name is Heavy Weapons Guy, or Heavy for short." He held his huge hand out for her to shake, and Ruby gladly did even though her comparatively tiny hand was completely covered by his single massive one. "It was nice speaking with you. Now, dasvidaniya."

"Actually, I think I was just about to leave too." Ruby only stopped by to check out the latest issues of the weekly weapon magazine anyway, and she left the store at the same time they did. Though she only got to meet Heavy properly, she still waved him and the rest of his friends goodbye as they parted ways. "What a nice guy..." She said to herself as she watched them walk away, before finally turning the opposite direction to leave. Her friends were waiting for her nearby, and she hurried off to meet them. It was a weekend, which meant that she and her team were free to wander around the city.

You know, she was actually kind of happy about today. So far nothing crazy happened yet, and she actually found someone nice to talk to. It's rare for her to come out to the city and nothing crazy happens, and that applies to the rest of her team as well.

"Hey Ruby!" Yang, Ruby's dear older sister, yelled to her once they all met up with each other. "Did you hear about the raid that happened like an hour ago?"

"Raid?" Ruby tilted her head. "I didn't hear anything about a raid."

"The police report said that some armed men destroyed a secret White Fang base all by themselves." Weiss explained. "Nobody knows who they are, and when the police sent teams in to arrest them, they were gone. The police think they are some kind of anti-White Fang vigilante gang since all of them appeared to be Humans."

"Which means they are loose in the city..." Blake said softly, eyes furrowing due to her mixed thoughts about this. The secret catgirl had some sympathy for the White Fang as she believed they were all misguided, but she did agree that force had to be used to stop them because of their extremely hostile nature. She really preferred if the White Fang weren't killed since she considered most of them innocent, but sometimes that's just not how things work out.

"And if they escaped the cops, then that means they're baddies!" Ruby chirped, looking excited at the thought of stopping some more criminals. Though they had successfully defended the city during the breach incident, Team RWBY was still feeling a little bummed about not being able to stop the breach to begin with. Maybe taking down a group of criminals is what they need to make themselves feel better. "Wait, what's a vigilante?" Ruby asked innocently.

"A vigilante is someone who takes the law into their own hands. Don't you learn anything from those dumb police shows you sometimes watch?" Weiss asked.

"Eh, Ruby and I fell asleep whenever we watched those boring actors on screen. Too much detective mumbo jumbo." Yang shrugged, "But if that's what a vigilante is, then does that mean that they are kind of good guys too?" The blonde of the team was legitimately confused about how that would work. "Like, a good guy villain?"

"Vigilantes aren't always villains. Sometimes they're just good people rising up to stop crime when the government doesn't..." Blake trailed, thinking back on how some members of the Faunus community forming groups to defend themselves from persecution before the White Fang was formed.

"That maybe true, but oftentimes they do illegal things to carry out 'justice'. " Weiss added. "They may not be bad guys, but they are still criminals."

"...so they're not bad guys?" Ruby blinked. She and her sister obviously didn't take much from this, and it made Blake and Weiss sigh in frustration.

"We'll see when we find them..." Weiss sighed, pulling out her scroll so that Ruby could see a picture of what they looked like. "Here, this is taken from the news report. The pictures aren't very clear since the men barely showed themselves, but here they are..." She then gave Ruby her scroll so that the leader could get an idea of what they looked like, and once she did, she nearly dropped the scroll.

"I WAS JUST WITH THESE GUYS!" She screamed out loud, eyes darting to each of the pictures and examining them as many times as she needed to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. "They were in the store with me only a few minutes ago!" Ruby then made a rapid 180 degree turn back towards she last saw them, and sure enough the nine of them were about a block away already. "THAT'S THEM!"

"Really!? Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" Yang yelled excitedly, happy for some action.

 **(...)**

So the guys have realized a couple of things: One, their collective millions of dollars is worthless here. Two, they have no jobs to get any of this world's currency. Three, they're all effectively homeless since they are in an unfamiliar world.

The third problem can be easily solved by finding an abandoned building that no one uses. They did it plenty of times whenever Mann Co. failed to provide them with proper quarters on some of their missions, and so they saw nothing wrong with sprucing a probably rat-filled, decaying building up for them to stay in until they can get better living space. This problem had a problem on itself, for there wasn't a whole lot of abandoned buildings big enough for them all to live in as far as they could tell.

The first problem can be solved if they solved the second problem, and that meant that each of them had to get a job. On paper it shouldn't be too hard considering how they were mercenaries after all, but they had no connections in this world. As in, nobody knows who they are and they don't know anyone who is willing to hire them out.

"This blows..." Scout groaned. "What the Hell are we supposed to do here?"

"More importantly, how are ve supposed to get back home?" Medic asked.

"I dunno doc, but I reckon I got to do some tinkering with the Teleporters. Not sure if it's possible or not, but maybe I can make us a way back home." The Texan said.

"I sincerely hope you do, Dell, because I would hate to have to live here starting from nothing..." Spy sighed.

The entire team was quite bummed out about all that has happened to them in the last couple hours alone. First they get sucked into a new world that is not a drunken dream they happened to all have together, and now they are already in trouble with the cops. On top of this, they all lost their vehicles. Now they couldn't even leave the city without getting bogged out in the wild.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The sound of a young girl's voice yelled to them from behind, and the mercs all turned around to see something they didn't expect. They thought it might've been a young female cop or something, but no. Instead it was four teenage girls. The voice who yelled at them was that of Ruby, the same girl who was in the store with them earlier.

"Ruby?" Went Heavy since he's the only one who actually knows her by name.

"Heavy, I want you and your friends to come along peacefully. We don't want any trouble with you." She responded.

"Come along peacefully? What, you girls cops or somethin'?" Scout chuckled at that silly thought, earning annoyed glares from them.

"No, we're huntresses! ...In training!" Ruby exclaimed proudly. "And we're here to stop you from doing vigilante, uh... things!" Even when she's trying to be serious she came off as a little awkward and adorkable, something her teammates rolled their eyes about.

"Vigilante things? I don't even know what that word means! Is that French? Because if it is, I want you to know that I really hate France!" Soldier yelled, not remembering that Spy was French for a moment who glared at the American for his stupidity.

"I don't even know what France is!" The girl yelled back.

"Look, just give up and no one gets hurt, okay?" Yang said to them. The mercs looked to each other, took a moment to almost mentally communicate and understand what she just said, and then they burst out laughing from how stupid she just sounded. "What's so funny?" The blonde asked, narrowing her eyes in annoyance at the nine laughing men.

"W-what are you young gals going to do?" Engie wiped a tear from his eyes while trying to stop from laughing. All of a sudden, the mercenaries shut right the fuck up when all four of the girls pulled their ridiculous weapons out. Ruby had Crescent Rose, a big ass sniper scythe. Weiss had her revolving dust cylinder rapier, Myretenaster. Blake had her katana gun/kusarigama, Gambol Shroud. And Yang had her shotgun gauntlets, Ember Celica.

"Huh... well, I don't know how you gals got those weapons, but I think this is just a big misunderstanding. Listen gals, how about we just talk this out?" The good ole Texan man tried to negotiate with them instead of resorting to violence, mostly because he was sure they were gonna get crushed if they fought. As in, the girls were gonna get crushed. "How about we share some-"

He reached into his little pouch for something, but then Ruby literally shot it out of his hand using her sniper scythe. She looked quite surprised to see that he pulled out nothing more than a chocolate bar instead of a weapon, and now she was laughing a little nervously at the annoyed mercenaries.

"...Chocolate." Engie finished, frowning at the girl who just shot the chocolate bar out of his hand. "Well... looks like y'all just lost your chocolate privileges..." Engineer then pulled out his Wrench, signalling to the rest of them to pull their weapons out.

"No guns or explosives, gentlemen. They are just girls. Even if they do have weapons..." Spy straightened his tie out and reached into his coat pocket for his Butterfly Knife. "Try not to hurt them too badly." He said before all Hell broke loose.

Team RWBY thought they were gonna have the upper hand since they thought the mercs were just regular goons that they're used to facing, but NOPE. Things did not go their way at all as now they were getting their asses **_destroyed_** _._ The girls had rushed forward and planned to defeat them instantly with a swift melee strike using their teamwork and skills, but that obviously did not happen. What instead happened was Yang getting football tackled by Soldier and Medic after she missed her first strike. Weiss getting decked in the face with a really hard backhand by Spy when he sidestepped her attack. Blake the catgirl getting ganged up on by Scout, Engineer, and Sniper when they cornered her. And last but not least, Ruby getting grabbed by the scruff of her cape when Heavy and Demoman just casually dodged her dash at them.

Ruby struggled and yelled desperately for her team to help her, but they were all preoccupied by things that seriously needed their attention first such as not getting their asses whooped. Demoman let go of Ruby and allowed Heavy to have full control over her, meaning the Russian was free to swing her around by the legs until they both got dizzy before finally letting her sail off into a random direction.

" _WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_ " Ruby screamed as she smashed through the window of a nearby diner, her Crescent Rose dropping right next to her.

She was dazed and confused about being thrown, so much so that she briefly forgot where she was. Once she regained her senses, she was greeted by the unpleasant sight of her team getting rekted by the mercenaries. Weiss was too locked down in intense dueling combat with the surprisingly nimble Spy who only used a Butterfly Knife against her rapier, and the others were in a similar situation. Yang's busy dueling Soldier who's also a surprisingly potent melee fighter with only his Shovel and fists, and Blake was too concerned with evading the mercenaries pouncing her to help anyone. Blake's shadow clones did wonders in helping her avoid attacks, but every time she tried to strike back wasn't very successful since they were all surprisingly good at fighting.

Team RWBY clearly underestimated the mercenaries, but that didn't mean they were going to give up. It was too late to back out of this now. Ruby was at least glad that they weren't using seriously lethal weapons against them, which meant that they didn't intend on killing them.

With Spy and Weiss, the heiress was trying her hardest to match Spy's flawless fencing style. Weiss was a fencer herself since it was only a proper martial art for a person of such high social standing like herself to participate in, but Spy was just on a whole other level. It didn't matter how Weiss moved, how she struck, how she parried, how she dodged, the Frenchman was able to keep up with everything with only using his Butterfly Knife like a parrying dagger to use against her while striking against her body with his hands whenever he saw fit. Getting quite fed up with how she wasn't able to hit him, Weiss decided that it was about time to use her semblance and summon some glyphs to freeze him in place. She backflipped a couple meters back and used her rapier to summon a glyph at Spy's feet which successfully immobilized him.

"Huh, that was easier than I thought." The heiress shrugged, having a smug grin at the Frenchman she just captured. "Looks like I beat you."

"Naturally." He said simply. Then he reached into his coat and threw an Electro-Sapper at her at a speed too fast for her to react. The Sapper landed right on her chest, and before she could even begin wondering what exactly this thing was, it had activated and now currents of electricity shocked her body silly. The glyph at Spy's feet disappeared, and the Frenchman began laughing at the heiress, taunting her for feeling so cocky in herself. Now she was looking like a spazzing ragdoll!

Yang's fight had gone by so much simpler since Medic was able to easily knock her out of the fight by sedating her with a bunch of tranquilizers while Soldier and Heavy held her down. Nothing too complicated, just a simple knockout shot and then the feared Dragon Girl of Beacon was out in a snap just like that. Yang crawled on the ground, body feeling very weak and heavy from all the tranquilizer, but she was able to stay conscious just enough to not fall asleep.

Blake was so much harder to pin down than the other two because of how slippery and maneuverable she was. She kept on deploying shadow clones to confuse them, and it was beginning to annoy the mercs as they all ganged up on her. Blake was well aware of the advantage she held, but the problem was that she couldn't stop moving or else they will get her. She no longer had to worry about any of that though when the mercs finally coordinated and took her down. Pyro had taken out its Flamethrower to airblast her up into the air, surprising her so much that she wasn't able to avoid getting caught by Heavy's unbreakable grip where they began to lay into her with everything they got, until she was finally hit with a swift critical strike to the face using the Holy Mackerel from Scout.

"Ha! You just got hit with a fish! Man, that's gotta be embarrassing!" Scout taunted her as Blake fell to the ground, a hand rubbing the spot where she was hit. She wasn't knocked out yet, but that was fixed when she was pushed on top of Weiss. The electrical current from Weiss flowed straight into Blake, and now they were both getting literally roasted by the electricity.

Rather embarrassingly, the girls had to take the shame of the mercenaries laughing at them for thinking they could take them on.

"Well, we gave y'all a chance to talk this out like adults. Now look at what y'all done made us do..." Engie shook his head, just as Spy removed the Electro-Sapper from Weiss and Blake.

"Hey! Are you forgetting someone!?" Ruby yelled as she returned to the scene, Crescent Rose ready for a fight, even if she was beginning to feel like she fucked up in deciding to fight them after all.

The mercs turned their attention on her, and they all made a face that said 'what are you going to do?'. Ruby was beginning to feel subconscious about all this and really embarrassed, noticing all the bystanders watching around them and blushing in humiliation. Alright, so they're not villains. They're not trying to kill her like Roman Torchwick and the White Fang, but they were still jerks as far as she was concerned. Ruby gulped, and pointed the gun end of Crescent Rose at them. With the exception of Yang's gauntlets and the first shot Ruby fired before the fight began, not a single round had been fired in the whole fight.

"You're lucky we were holding back on you this whole time!" The blushing leader yelled. "Next time we won't go so easy on you! You-you jerks! And... and, MEANIES!"

"Yeah, whatever you say kid..." Scout chuckled softly, his team laughing along with him. Only making Ruby even more embarrassed. "Why don't you go home and write in your diary about how mean we are?"

"I-I don't have a diary!" Ruby cried out with a cute blush. It wasn't supposed to end like this at all. Team RWBY was supposed to wipe them out in one coordinated swipe, but no! These guys just happened to be way better fighters than they thought they were, and now Team RWBY just got beat like they were nothing. "Last chance to surrender!" At this point, the sounds of police sirens echoing off the buildings can be heard approaching their location. The mercs looked around as if they were afraid of getting caught by the police, and Ruby couldn't help but smirk in victory. "Humph, looks like _I_ got you."

The mercs looked to each other again and straight faced. Clearing his throat, Heavy began speaking to Ruby.

"Ruby, Heavy wants you to know that my friends and I are sorry that this happened, but it is still your fault." The Russian said, making her pout as they all looked to her beaten friends. "We do not want to be enemies with teenage girls, but we also do not want to be captured by police." He then made his fingers into the shape of a gun and pointed it at her. She didn't understand why he would point a finger gun at her if she had a real gun trained on them right now. "Please do not take this personally, but POW!" Out of nowhere, an invisible sudden burst of concentrated force struck Ruby right in the belly, and it was strong that it was enough to send her flying right back to the same diner she crashed into earlier, but this time in the unbroken window!

The entire team then ran back through the alleys of the city right before the cops got there. Some officers stopped by the girls to make sure that they and anyone else was okay before making reports, while the rest went looking for the mercenaries.

" _Ohhh_ _... owie... this isn't the last... that you will see of me..._ " Ruby groaned as she struggled to pull herself out of the diner, shaking her fist at them as if she was some cliche movie villain. She only managed to stand up for a second before falling flat on her face, unconscious.

* * *

 **Later, Inside an Abandoned Apartment Complex**

"Alright lads, I think we lost 'em..." Sniper whispered to the team as he scanned the streets with his Sniper Rifle.

"Great, so we're in another world with the cops after us. I don't know about you, but I think we're off to a bloody good start." Said Demoman before he took a long drink from his Scrumpy Bottle. The mercenaries truly had a big ole streak of bad luck in the one day that they've been here...

They set up a temporary base inside this really run down apartment building they found with nobody inside it, and this just might have been the lowest moment in their careers together as a team. Literally stuck in another world with no way back home and they are already wanted criminals. Like, I can't stress enough how shitty their situation is right now, because it really is that bad.

The mercs were sulking around a campfire Pyro made out of random bits of wood and paper it found scattered around the place.

"Heavy may never see family again..." The Russian said somberly. He already said that his sisters were old enough to protect themselves and their mother, but he really wanted to be there with them as they lived their new lives outside of Siberia.

"I ain't gonna see my mom too..." Scout said, for once, letting his tough guy image drop since he really did care for his mother. Spy couldn't help but turn his head slightly over to him. Though his face didn't show it, he cared about Scout's mother as well. The other mercs already knew that Spy was Scout's farther, and he did _kinda_ revealed to Scout that he was his true father, even if Scout thinks that it's actually Tom Jones.

"I'm never going to see America again!" Soldier despaired, breaking down into a sobbing American mess since he fully realized that the land of Stars and Stripes will not be a sight he will see ever again.

"Ah, come on fellas! So what if we're in another world? I already said that I'll work on finding us a way out of here, but until then we just got to keep our spirits up." The ever so calm and cool Texan said to the team.

"Engineer is right, at least ve are still together." Medic added. "We were lucky enough that vhatever happened to us brought us all to the same world! Und remember vat Spy said before we were fired? Together, ve can face anything." The German man said enthusiastically with that signature goofy/creepy smile of his. The other mercs rolled their eyes at the sappy shit he just said, but they knew he was right. They been through too much together to break apart now. They were a band of brothers forged through violence, and they'll be damned if being another world was all it took to break them now.

"Gentlemen, we are Team Fortress..." Spy began. The Frenchman stood by a window with its glass frame long gone, looking out across the city as the sun began to set. "We are not normal men. We are mercenaries. We are dangerous professional killers who have fought just about every Godforsaken thing imaginable. This world and whatever it has in store for us will _not_ break us..." He turned around to face them, all of their attention solely on him. "Until we can find a way home, we must all establish our presence here and show the people of this world that we are a force to be reckoned with."

"And how the bloody Hell do you suppose we do that?" Sniper asked. "We literally have nothing except for the stuff we got in our personal inventories."

"Well..." Spy paused and took out a cigarette, lighting it, and putting it in his mouth for a puff of smoke to be blown out. "...I think I would like my car back."


	3. Chapter 3

**MiR V2 Chp. 3 A0**

* * *

Sunlight faded from the skies as the sun slowly dipped under the horizon, leaving the moon to take its place in the sky with the stars following it. It wasn't quite late enough for the citizens of the city to be retiring for the night, so most of them were enjoying the comfort of their homes until then. Something the mercenaries couldn't do for obvious reasons, much to their unending anger and annoyance. The mercenaries didn't have much in the way of a plan for how they were going to thrive here, but the first step and only real objective they had was getting their cars back before the cops could seal them away somewhere.

Through the use of the same sewer system that they used to escape, the mercs returned to the spot they first arrived at in this world. It took some trial and error for them to find the right manhole that led them to the right place, but they managed to find themselves back in the Faunus neighborhood. Only reason why they knew that was because this place had way more of those animal people than normal Humans like in the nicer areas of the city. Nobody on the streets seemed to really mind their presence, maybe it was because the descriptions of the mercs still weren't clear and they didn't recognize them, or they genuinely didn't care about them. Once the mercs arrived to the Fang hideout they had destroyed, they found the cops were still in the area investigating the hideout. It was more like the cops were finishing up gathering all the evidence they could get on the Fang and were now cleaning up the mess. All of the Fang who were dead, alive, or were found cowering nearby in fear were moved off the scene, and rubble and junk caused by the raid was still being removed.

Team Fortress was perched on top of a two-story building not too far away, and they were closely observing the scene. Cops were everywhere, and a tight perimeter was still held around the building. The Heavy Law Enforcer teams and snipers had been called back to the station, but in their place was a squad of Atlesian soldiers and accompanying AK-200 androids standing guard. When Atlas heard that the incident involved the White Fang, they immediately sent squads to the area to assist the police in their investigation. The good news was that the mercenaries' vehicles were still right where they left them, but the bad news was that cops and Atlesian soldiers were all over their vehicles, searching them in and out to find any information about them for what little good that will do.

Seeing that the cops outnumbered and outgunned them, the mercs decided to do the only logical thing for them to do here. Standard procedure in dealing with cops, a simple run in there and beat the fuck out of them, and then leave once they got their cars back. The only concern they had was not getting caught, just like every other criminal, but they have all the more reason specifically not to get captured by the police. Back on Earth, a lot of the off time the mercs spent not in the battlefield typically involved the police busting them for less than legal activities. The guys aren't exactly the most upstanding citizens, and though they usually try their hardest not to, they always get into trouble with the law. Miss Pauling and Mann Co. were always there to bail them out of most of those situations. In this world, they were on their own. Until the mercs could establish themselves here, they had to keep it low. At least as best as they could after they pull off this high profile stunt.

The basic rules that they agreed on was this: No killing anyone unless they truly deserved it like the White Fang who attacked them so they at least don't get locked away forever or even executed, and try not to die. Going to a maximum security prison or getting killed drastically lowers your chances of going home.

With this in their minds, it's time for them to take their cars back from the police.

Law enforcement was caught completely off guard when the mercs stormed the area with a bunch of smoke bombs and rushed them, yelling out battle cries at the startled and frightened police. While the VPD officers were frightened, the far more disciplined Atlesian soldiers and their accompanying androids remained calm and alert as smoke obscured their vision. Their calmness did not change how they were getting rushed by nine mercs.

" _HAAAVE AT THEM LAADS!_ " Demoman yelled a battlecry through the smoke screen, already beginning to knock a few heads out cold with a Conscientious Objector.

The rest of Team Fortress was doing just the same all around him utilizing nonlethal but more often than not painful means to get rid of the police. Smoke obscured the vision of all the cops and a few began shooting wildly into the smoke, hitting each other more often than they did the mercenaries. The Atlesian soldiers and knights decided to do away with their guns and went straight to melee since they didn't want to risk friendly fire like the cops were. This idea proved to be just as useless as shooting wildly though, maybe even less effective, as it made it all the easier for the mercs to beat them down. The few law enforcers who weren't beaten to a pulp began panicking and retreated out of the smoke, leaving the vehicles open for Team Fortress. Perfect timing too since the smoke was beginning to clear up, and distant police sirens were becoming not so distant.

"Coast is clear! Let's get out of here, lads!" Sniper called out to the team.

While the cops were scattered and confused, the mercs got into their cars and sped the Hell out of the area. Soldier and Demomen were in the Bread Van with Engineer as driver and Pyro riding in its shopping cart still tied to the back. Medic drove his Ambulance with Heavy riding with him. Sniper drove his Camper Van with Scout. And last but not least, Spy drove his prized custom Bizzarrini sports car. Just like how they arrived here, the mercs drove together as a speedy convoy through the streets of the city. While the mercs had a simple plan of how to get their cars, they forgot to consider that when one steals from the police, the cops are more than likely to chase you down relentlessly and now they were being pursued. It seemed like every single police cruiser in the city was after them. Trailing right behind the mercs was a long river of flashing police lights that stretched for blocks, all in pursuit of the criminals. The river of police lights became even more defined and clear when the chase was taken onto the freeway.

"Oh, I do not think ve thought zis out very well!" Medic sweated, looking at the side mirrors of his Ambulance and at all the flashing lights chasing them. "What are we supposed to do now?" He called out to the entire team through the team radio.

"Everyone calm down. I will take care of this..." Said the Frenchman through the team radio.

As soon as he said that, he took his car and went to the very back of the convoy, taking the Bread Van's place and even giving Pyro a nod as he passed it. Once he was at the very back with the police cars closest to him, he revealed a hidden panel in the dashboard of his Bizzarrini and began pressing a few buttons. Jets of black oil were sprayed out from underneath his car, and he began swerving across the entire freeway to spread his oil slick evenly. The police cruisers in pursuit of the mercs soon lost their traction once they drove on the oil and were now spinning out of control, colliding with each other and effectively causing a pileup large enough to completely stop the pursuit.

"Yes! Au revoir! Hahaha!" The Frenchman laughed. This was the first time he ever used that custom feature he had installed into the car, and he was so happy to see that it actually worked. Cheers and cries of victorious joy from his teammates heard across the team radio showed that they were just as happy it worked too.

"Huh, Heavy did not know Spy's car was spy car." The Russian grinned as he looked back to the no longer pursuing police.

"As much as I hate that French bastard, I gotta admit that was actually pretty freakin' sweet." Scout admitted with a small grin of his own.

"The cops ain't on our tails no more, boys! We're in the clear!" Engie cheered with joyous laughter.

"This ought to show them bloody cops that we ain't messing around!" Sniper laughed.

"Mphmm!" Agreed the Pyro.

Team Fortress then drove off of the freeway and disappeared into the streets before a police airship or even a news airship could catch up and follow them from above, otherwise this whole chase would end on a much less happy tone. The whole ordeal took only five minutes, and though that doesn't sound like a lot of time, keep in mind a lot could happen in five minutes. Hell, boxing rounds for example lasts for only three minutes and so much could happen in that time.

Happy that something actually went right for once, the Team disappeared into the deep city in victory.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

" _Coooooool!_ " Ruby shrieked in excitement.

She had just been watching a police show on the TV, ironically enough, when a breaking news report interrupted her broadcast. At first she was excited because this was _waaaaaaaaaay_ more exciting than watching fake TV show about it, but then her heart dropped when the report went into detail about what's going on. "Guys! You have to come see this! It's a police chase on the news!" Ruby called out to her team.

The rest of Team RWBY was getting ready for bed since it was getting late, but they still dropped what they were doing to come see the chase. They were all in their nightwear except for Yang who was just about to take a shower. She had nothing but a towel covering her up, but she didn't mind much since her attention as well as everyone else's was glued to the information on the TV. There was no footage about the mercs vehicles since the news was too late to bring an airship up before they escaped, but there was live footage of the aftermath of the police pileup. Currently, Lisa Lavender of the VNN was reporting in that all officers are okay, though the suspects had gotten away.

"Yikes... that looks bad..." Yang said upon seeing all the crashed police cruisers. "At least no one was seriously hurt."

"But the baddies got away..." Ruby pouted. Stories where the bad guys don't get caught don't sit that well with her, and she sulked a little after hearing just that very thing happened. Her attention to the TV was temporarily lost as a result, but then Lisa Lavender made a very interesting statement that caught every single one of Team RWBY's attentions so hard that you would have sworn they were possessed as they stared at the TV.

"Authorities say that the vehicles driven by the suspects were stolen from the site of the police investigation of the vigilante raid on the White Fang hideout in the Faunus District this morning. The suspects had assaulted and overwhelmed the Atlesian soldiers and VPD officers guarding the vehicles before stealing them. Though details are scarce, the police say that they have made a connection to the stolen vehicles and the mysterious vigilantes, believing that the suspects are said vigilantes stealing their vehicles from police custody."

"I'm sorry- _WHAT!?"_ Ruby shrieked, this time in disbelief. The team's reaction had changed from interest to surprise in mere seconds.

"They attacked the police..." Blake trailed.

"...took their cars back..." Yang continued.

"...and actually got away." Weiss finished.

"Thanks for answering that weirdly, you guys..." Ruby muttered, letting herself slowly fall onto her back and sighing in frustration. "Great, now those jerks have cars now... Who knows what kind of bad things they'll do now?"

"I don't know Ruby. They didn't seem all that bad when we met them earlier..." Blake admitted, gaining stares of disbelief from the two sisters. Weiss' reaction was more like she was neutral to that statement, albeit a little bitter about the encounter.

"Blake? What are you saying!?" Ruby demanded in all the seriousness her petite self could muster.

"Well, they didn't try kill us when we tried to capture them..." She paused a bit and touched the spot where she had been smacked by a fish, her face scrunching up a little in anger. "I think they're jerks, but not villains. They didn't even look like they were up to anything illegal when we found them."

"While I also don't particularly like them very much, I will say that they really haven't committed any serious crimes." The heiress agreed. "The only illegal thing anyone knows they have done is wiping out that Fang hideout. You know, other than a lot of property damage, and maybe some medical bills..." She trailed, looking back at the pileup of police cars on the TV. Blake had shot her a glance upon being reminded of what they did to the White Fang, and she began to wonder why they did it.

"I guess... they seemed pretty nice when I met them in the dust store." Ruby admitted, thinking back on how she was so close to criminals without even realizing it. "But that doesn't change how they have broken the law!" She blurted out upon realizing that despite not being villains, the mercs were still technically criminals by the definition of the word. "We're huntresses, so we have to bring them to justice next time we find them!"

"Yeah! I owe that doctor guy for sticking those needles in me!" The Dragon Girl went, still quite peeved about how easily she was taken out by them. She then turned her attention to Weiss and Blake, giving them grins. "What? You two gonna stick by the criminals, or are you on our side?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm on your side." The heiress said.

Blake hesitated in her response. Though she didn't like them that much, she felt that things just didn't add up and that something wasn't right about them. For a group of vigilantes, the guys are pretty okay about walking around in public in broad daylight after raiding the White Fang hideout. Considering how skilled and experienced they had to be in order for the nine of them to take on the White Fang by themselves as well as utterly destroy Team RWBY, why they did just so clumsily leave their vehicles at the scene only to steal them back hours later? It would've made more sense for them to stash the vehicles away so that they could get away and hide from the cops without causing too much of a fuss. Come to think of it, why did they let themselves get cornered by the police at all? If they were, say, professional ex-huntsmen, then they would have never let the police catch up to them like that. She even thought back on her own experiences as a criminal during her time in the White Fang so she could compare herself to them.

"Blakey? Don't tell me you're seriously feeling sorry for these guys!" Yang teased, giving Blake a playful punch to the arm.

"Ow! No, it's just that... never mind. I'm on your side." She sighed in defeat.

"Then it's settled! Heavy and his friends better watch out because Team RWBY won't stop until you're behind bars!" Ruby boldly declared. Her dear sister clapped and cheered her on, albeit in an almost mocking and playful way, while Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes at how naive their leader could be at times. "Just you wait... we'll be seeing each other again soon..." Said Ruby in a way that sounded menacing yet childishly determined at the same time, looking out the dorm window and grinning toward the stars.

 **...**

Elsewhere in Beacon, Ozpin's office to be precise, a different kind of discussion on the mercenaries was going on. This time between some of the most important people in the academy and on who they are and what their plans could be. Headmaster Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, and General James Ironwood of Atlas Academy were gathered at Ozpin's desk, reviewing all the information that is known about them. There wasn't a lot to review as there was so little information about them. The only thing anybody knew about them was that they suddenly appeared this morning and destroyed a White Fang hideout, got into a fight with Team RWBY that Ozpin has already talked to the girls about, and now stealing their cars back from law enforcement in a daring police chase. A couple of strange details include every model of vehicle the supposed vigilantes owning being from unknown manufacturers, and how eyewitness reports say a blindingly huge flash of white light appeared only moments before they made their raid. Ozpin himself saw the flash since it was so bright that it could be seen from across the entire city.

"I don't know what to make of it, Oz..." Ironwood sighed in slight frustration, the lack of intel being the reason why. "There are no records of these men in any of our databases. It's almost like they appeared from thin air..."

"Which is ridiculous..." Goodwitch added. "They must be from outside the kingdom if no records of them exist. Maybe they are rogue huntsmen from another kingdom? Though this kind of work is sloppy even for an ex-huntsmen..." She thought, thinking about the messy raid they made and how they unprofessionally left their escape vehicles behind. "They could be disgruntled men from the frontier. That would explain why they are targeting the White Fang since the Fang tend to prey on villages outside of the kingdom."

"Whoever they are, they are causing us a lot of trouble..." The general said in a serious tone. "We have to capture them to prevent them from making things more complicated than they already are."

It was General Ironwood's responsibility as the head of Vytal Festival security to keep the people calm and safe after Ozpin's failure to prevent the breach last week. Though these supposed vigilantes destroyed a White Fang hideout and left valuable information on them behind, their actions so far are causing some concerns to rise in the people. Their raid let the entire city know that the White Fang were still in Vale and remained a threat, not something masses of people should worry about during the Vytal Festival. All these worried people concentrated in one space may attract the Grimm, something that their mysterious enemy may exploit with the arrival of this third party.

Ozpin remained still for a second, thinking about what should be done. The headmaster was far more experienced and had an understanding beyond that of most other men, and he had a suspicion that something was off about them. Team RWBY's testimony on their run in with them being the basis of this. Ignoring how they described them as "a bunch of jerks", it was in Ozpin's understanding that they either were stupid vigilantes for walking around in broad daylight after a raid, or they were just regular guys who just got caught up in a big misunderstanding. This possibility, and how they were experienced fighters, was the focus of Ozpin's thoughts on them.

"Do you think this flash of light was some kind of weapon?" Glynda asked, focusing on eyewitness reports back from moments before the raid. "Eyewitness reports say that the men and their vehicles appeared after that flash."

"They used the flash to cover their approach. A simple tactic." The General answered. "Though why they would use something so bright that it exposed their location to the entire city is anyone's guess... Oz? Do you have anything to say about this? What are your thoughts? I'm sure your experience will give us some insight."

"I don't know what to say. There isn't a lot of information to go by..." The Beacon headmaster said rather casually. "The one thing that we can be sure of is that they are at least not working for our enemies. It wouldn't make sense to have your own men potentially unravel your entire operation like that." Said the headmaster to which the general and Goodwitch agreed. "Speaking of which, what were your men able to gather from the hideout?"

"Just that this was a recruiting center for the White Fang in that district. Any survivors we found have refused to answer our questions, and a lot of important documents and data had been destroyed during the raid..." Sighed the general. "There's some hints that the White Fang has other hideouts in the city, but we can't pinpoint where any of them are from little information we have."

"So essentially nothing?" The headmaster said, to which Ironwood grudgingly nodded. "Humph... well in any case, let's just hope these mysterious men don't become too much of a nuisance."

"Is that all? You don't sound like you're taking this very seriously, Oz." The general said.

"Well, unless these men do something that would requires our full attention, then there's not much to be done about them. We'll just have to let the police handle them for now. Besides, we all know that we have much bigger things to worry about than a group of vigilantes. It's best that we deal with our enemy before anything else."

* * *

 **Mercs' Hideout**

The mercs have successfully escaped from the cops, and they couldn't be any happier that they managed to pull off what they did this night. Since the police were searching for them all over the city, the mercs have made their hideout in an abandoned factory building they found tucked away in a private area in the industrial district. Clearly whoever the previous owner of this place was had privacy in mind since the factory was built with essentially a mini-forest around it. There was enough trees to completely obscure the factory from the rest of the district, and the only way anyone could get to it by vehicle is a single road leading to it

All of the windows were shattered or boarded up, and any machinery and other important bits had been cleaned out long ago. The only things left inside the place was the hard parts of machinery that couldn't easily be moved, and a lot of trash. A ton of graffiti was everywhere as expected for an abandoned place in a city, and there was also rats and other vermin all over the place.

"This place almost reminds Heavy of factories we defend from robots." The Russian said as he looked around.

"We're supposed to stay in this freaking dump?" Scout said in disgust.

"I don't know what you're on about lad. This place is not much better than some of the absolutely horrible excuse for bloody living quarters we've had before..." Demo said casually, drinking his scrumpy like he always does. He's got a point. Any place that Mann Co. gave them on a mission too far away from their base was usually a pretty shitty excuse for living space.

"Yeah, good point." The Bostonian shrugged.

"This'll do for a base. All we need is some defenses and a power source, and we got ourselves a fortress." Said Engineer. "Come on, fellas. Let's get this darn place cleaned up."

What happened next is your standard cleaning montage. Just the guys setting their new base straight so that they could stay here, nothing much else to say. The generator system the factory has was long out of working order and was impossible to repair. Engineer found an easy solution around this problem by using Dispensers as a power source instead. For magical reasons beyond my understanding, Dispensers require no power source and will constantly pump out energy, healing, and ammo unless destroyed or packed up for transportation. Engineer rigged the power system of the factory to a group of Dispensers, and just like that the mercs had endless ammo, health, and energy. Soon this factory was beginning to be a reasonably decent base of operations.

"This is one of the most magnificent fortresses my hands have had the pleasure to clean! It's so magnificent, that it is more than worthy for this American patriot." Soldier began painting a very crude and large American flag on one of the walls of the factory. Scout and Pyro joined in, except all Scout did was paint some more graffiti and Pyro just drew childishly adorable pictures of intense violence. Such pictures include a teddy bear ripping people's heads off with a fire axe among many other things.

"Ooooooh! How marvelous!" Medic's voice echoed across the factory in excitement. When everyone looked at Medic to see what was up, they saw him falling out the back of his Ambulance with arms full of Reanimators. "Look, mein freunde! It's our Reanimators from ze Robot War! Oh-ho, I must've left zem behind ven we were fired from Mann Co., haha!" Though the Ambulance was technically his property, Medic wasn't able to retrieve it since Gray Mann had taken over Mann Co. and prevented the mercs from setting foot in any Mann Co. facility since he fired them. Medic hadn't seen his Ambulance in the last six months as a result, so he naturally forgot about whatever he had inside them while he was working with Team Classic.

"Does this mean we do not need to fear death?" Heavy asked, looking relieved that once again the mercs didn't have to worry about dying. The other mercenaries looked just as relieved as Heavy was, but Medic wasn't so sure.

"I am not so sure, my friend. Zese Reanimators appear to be quite worn already, and there is only three of them. Let's see... I'd say zat each of these have at least three uses left before they cease to function."

"So that means we all essentially have one extra life..." Spy said with a slight grin.

"Ain't that a relief, boys?" Engie smiled, chuckling a little at the mercs' sudden turn of good fortune tonight.

"Indeed, this means we can be more bold in whatever actions we do here, but not reckless... We shouldn't take this gift for granted, gentlemen. These extra lives are precious, and they're only worth anything if Medic is there to revive us."

"Aye, we know. Try not to die. We get it!" Demo groaned. "Have you not any faith in us, mate? We've been fighting all kinds of bloody things for the last five years, I think we know enough to not get ourselves killed." Said the drunken Scot in a way that made the team feel more confident in themselves. The only ones of them who actually got killed in the six months that they've had no RESPAWN machine bringing them back to life was Sniper, Scout, and Medic, but thanks to factors that are too complicated and confusing/unbelievable to explain here, I'll just say they that they managed to be _not_ dead through various ways until I'm ready to explain how it's possible.

"Mphmhm hmphm hmp mh hormh, mhmh mh hmh hmhp phmo?" Pyro asked.

"I'm thinking we should head out into the city tomorrow and buy some damn food." Engie suggested, clutching his stomach. "All we got to eat is a couple Sandviches, candy bars, and some stale bread Soldier found in the Bread Van."

They have barely had anything to eat since yesterday. Nobody could argue with that. Except Sniper, who scoffed at the suggestion in favor of something simpler.

"Humph, I don't see why we can't-

"Bushman, we are not going to eat damn _squirrels_..." The Frenchman hissed.

"Ahhh, why not mate? Squirrel tastes pretty good whenever you ain't got no food on ya!" The Australian laughed since he was also a survivalist, even in a place like a city where it would be so much easier to just buy food instead of hunting urban wildlife, but Sniper was always prepared just in case.

"I'm sure it does, but we will go to the city tomorrow and get us some _actual_ food..." Spy said, specifically glaring at Sniper when he emphasized 'actual'.

After that, the gang called it a night and fell asleep in their cars since their was no furniture or anything to lie down on in the factory. All in all, the first full day in this world actually went pretty well for them. Now it's only a matter of if they could hold out long enough for them to find a way back home...

* * *

 **Vale Harbor, Secret White Fang Warehouse Base**

Roman Torchwick was not having a good day. Last night he didn't get any sleep because he was busy rallying more Faunus to join the White Fang, and then in the early hours of the morning before the sun even showed itself, the hideout he was holding the rally at got attacked by nine strangers and was utterly destroyed. He actually had very little memory of what happened after he blacked out, and when he asked Neo why his head was hurting, she simply said that the hideout was attacked and he got knocked out with a frying pan before she had to rush them both out of there. Neo looked quite hurt, and it worried Roman a little to see her like this.

" _Roman..._ " A chilling feminine voice called out to him from the shadows, making his blood run cold. With a deep breath, he calmed down and turned to face none other than Cinder Fall herself. She was wearing her usual attire instead of the Haven uniform she uses to disguise herself at Beacon. Emerald and Mercury were not with her.

"Cinder! My, what a pleasant surprise! Fancy seeing-"

" ** _What_** happened, Roman?" The intimidating woman said very seriously, causing Roman to mentally gulp in fear.

"Right... well, there's not much else to say other than we were attacked. Simple as that."

"Neo tells me that nine men destroyed the place by _themselves_..." Cinder said, giving the petite little girl a pat on the head when she popped at her side.

"Right, right, right. That's true, but are you really going to blame for this? It's not my fault that one of them knocked poor little me out cold with a damn frying pan..." He said coolly, mostly trying to not give her any reason to be any angrier at him.

"Blame you? No, I'm not blaming you for anything. In fact, I'm not very angry at all." The woman admitted, surprising both Roman and Neo. "The loss of that hideout is negligible. The Fang will have no problem making up for their losses..." She paused to watch some stolen Atlesian Paladins get rolled in for later use by the Fang. "Those machines will help our cause nicely, but what I am more interested in are these so called vigilantes. I'm sure you heard the news by now."

"Yeah, I heard. They went back to the hideout and stole their cars back from the cops."

"And they managed to escape without a trace." She smiled. "I don't know who they are, but I think I would like to meet these men."

"You serious? You realize these vigilante guys are going to try and kill you the moment you reveal who you are, right?"

" _T_ _ry..._ " Said the sinister woman, to which Roman sighed because he didn't even know why he asked. "Roman, you now have a new task in addition to the ones you already have. I want you to take the Fang and find these men and bring them to me so I can have a little chat with them."

"A chat, huh?" The master criminal said. "Well, alright. I think I want to have a little ' _chat'_ with them too while I'm at it..."

"Good..." Cinder then got close to Roman and placed her hand gently on his cheek, staring into his very soul with her piercing amber eyes. Roman resisted the urge to look away from her, using all his willpower to not break. "...I look forward to your success."


	4. Chapter 4

**MiR V2 Chp. 4 A0**

* * *

 **The Next Morning, City of Vale**

As they said they would, Team Fortress has returned to the city.

Since they didn't want to go through the trouble of going through the disgusting sewers and hauling their fresh food through it, the mercs walked into the city on foot. They didn't want to take the cars out since there was no doubt that the police would recognize them should the mercs choose to drive around so soon after that stunt they pulled off. The factory that they made into their base was left completely alone, except for a perimeter of Mini-Sentries loaded with rubber rounds to scare off any hooligans wanting to explore the area or for something dumb like that. Engineer left one end of a Teleporter at the base just in case they needed to make an instant getaway. So far in their venture into the city, nobody has recognized them. The obvious answer being that the news team weren't able to get any images on what they looked like, and people still had only a vague idea on what they looked like. Something that Spy was very glad that they managed to pull off last night, as even the few cops they saw did not recognize them.

There was also a very noticeable lack of cop cars on the street. Maybe because the vast majority of them are undergoing mass repairs after what happened last night. Every now and then a couple cops would be seen walking around the streets like how they did in the past, and more of those soldiers and androids they encountered last night were patrolling the streets in small squads. They were easily avoidable though. The entire city must seriously have no idea what the mercs looked like if absolutely nobody recognized them as they made it deeper and deeper into the city.

So the gang goes to buy their food, and then they are quickly reminded that they are broke as shit in this world. First thing that happened was that they walked into a cornerstore, grabbed some simple edible stuff, went to the cash register, were asked for payment, and then... dammit.

"Dammit... why can't this dumb world accept our freakin' money? We got billions of dollars!" Scout groaned once they were kicked out of the store.

"It's because America doesn't exist in this world, son. Ain't no federal reserve to back up all our money, or even a damn government to say that reserve exists." The Texan answered coolly, though that did not stop Soldier from freaking out once he was reminded that there is no America in this world.

"Arrgh! I can't stand this world and it's lack of America!" The patriot yelled, gaining some awkward stares from nearby bystanders. "Men, from this day forward, we _are_ America! Even though we already were! That way we can teach this world what it really means to be an American!"

"Yeah sure, whatever mate. Now how the Hell are we gonna get money if no one's gonna hire us as mercenaries?" Sniper asked, putting a hand over his stomach since it began growling a bit. "You know lads, I can still catch some squirrels-"

" **NO**." The entire team except for Soldier said at once. Soldier was actually okay with eating squirrel since that man's fucking insane, and he's probably been eating squirrels for the last twenty or so years of homelessness after he came back from World War 2.

"Mphm mrog! Mry mwond mweh mphm phmem?" Pyro suggested, making the whole team stare at it blankly. The suited person looked to each of its teammates with a somewhat innocent look on its mask. "Mephm... mro mrom mpmh fa?"

"You think ve should get... _normal_ jobs?" Medic said as if the term was completely alien to him. Last time he had a normal job was... never, technically. The only one among the mercs who can be considered to have normal, relatively non-dangerous jobs before was Demoman and Engineer. Engineer used to work in the Texan oilfields, and Demoman used to do all sorts of somewhat normal jobs when he was a kid.

"Mphm, pheyer mhprno mphm mmpm!"

"Well... I suppose that's quicker than finding work as a mercenary." Spy sighed. "Unless any of you have anything better to suggest, I agree with Pyro." The other mercs seemed to agree, except for Scout and Soldier.

"A normal job? Maggots, a normal job is a _civilian_ job! And I am no civilian!" Soldier yelled like a maniac, attracting more stares from bystanders to which the team shot them nasty glares to scare them away. Before Soldier could go on a rant about how he's not a civilian, his stomach began growling. "...men, I will take a civilian job. But... you won't think I'm a civilian, right?"

"Don't worry about it mate, we all know that you're not one." Demoman said, being eerily reminded with what he and Soldier went through when they tried to rescue Spy and Scout from the people of Teufort not very long ago.

"I don't know guys, getting a normal job sounds kinda lame. And _I_ ain't a lame guy." Said Scout. "Can't we just rob a store with masks or somethin'?"

"And risk getting chased by the police again? Without our vehicles? Absolutely not. Surely the police will be on high alert for our cars after our daring escape last night, and the last thing we need is for them to also know what we look like. Also, the idea of professional mercenaries like us robbing a store just for food is disgustingly pathetic..." Spy sighed. "If I'm being honest, I don't care how we get money as long as it doesn't risk us getting into any more trouble with the authorities..." Spy said seriously, glancing over at a squad of Atlesian soldiers coming down the street. But then the soldiers weren't the only thing he noticed. "Wait a minute... is there some kind of parade going on?"

"Mphm mphmh!? Mphm mphmhmp phm!"

"Hmm? You have an even better idea?"

* * *

Not too far away, eight teenagers were walking the streets. Eight teens who are all huntsmen-in-training from Beacon Academy. These obviously being Team RWBY, and their friends in Team JNPR after Ruby decided to drag them out to the city with them. Just like how the mercs went out into the city this morning, the teens did as well for they were also here looking for something just like them. Except that they were looking for _them_ , and not money for food.

"Alright team, this is it! Today's the day we catch those vigilante guys!" Ruby said with excitement, a certain sound of determination in her tone and the way she looked all around excited to be out here doing this.

"That's great Ruby, but why did you bring us out here again?" Jaune asked. When I said that Ruby dragged them along, it could be taken somewhat seriously since she barged right into their dorm room and told them to get ready for a trip to the city that they barely had any time to prepare for. Seriously, Team JNPR woke up in their dorm room less than thirty minutes ago and now they were here in the city. Everyone in the team except for Nora looked like they were still sleepy.

"Because we need help to catch these guys! There's nine of them running around out there, and they kicked my team's butt the first time we met them alone. But since you're here with us, that means there's eight of us now. That way we're almost even, and catching them will be way easier." Ruby explained.

"I guess that makes sense..." Jaune sighed.

"You made the right choice bringing us along, Ruby! Because the great and mighty Nora is more than glad to help you bring these criminals to justice!" The peppy redhead of Team JNPR declared with the raw energy contained within her.

"Great! Now, Operation Find the Baddies has commenced! Let's go!" With that, Team RWBY went ahead in one direction on their own, leaving the tired Team JNPR behind.

"So... how are we supposed to find these guys?" Ren asked.

"Uh, I dunno. I guess we have to walk around until we find them." Jaune shrugged.

"But... we don't know what they look like." Pyrrha pointed out, to which Jaune facepalmed in realization that Ruby forgot to show them pictures of the mercs, not even so much as describing their appearance either in the rush for them to get here.

"Ugh, dang it Ruby... guess I'll have to ask her for pictures later." The leader of Team JNPR then covered up a yawn. "You guys want to get some coffee before we start looking?" He asked his team, where all of them gladly said yes. This may sound like nothing special at first, but then one realizes that Nora is a part of this team. The girl who was filled with so much raw power and energy that the slightest boost of caffeine may or may not cause a nuclear detonation, or maybe something infinitely worse...

"Oh! Um, Nora! How about you go ahead and start searching by yourself?" Pyrrha forced a nervous smile on, trying to not sweat at the thought of what kind of chaos a caffeine fueled Nora could do.

"Huh? But I thought Jaune said-"

"THAT WE WERE GOING TO SPLIT UP AND SEARCH BY OURSELVES." Jaune blurted out with an even more forced smile than Pyrrha. Seeing that Nora wasn't fully convinced yet, he shakily turned to the other two members of the team so that they could back him up. "That way we can cover more ground, right guys? _Right?_ "

"Yes, that sounds like a good plan, team leader! Wouldn't you agree, Nora?" Ren, her bestest friend ever and usually stoic boy said rather calmly, hoping that Nora would buy it if he agrees with it. Fortunately, it worked.

"Hmm... okay!" She cheered, turning around with a firm and ready stance at her mission ahead. "Ready or not, villains! Here comes Nora!" With a loud battle cry, the terrifyingly energetic Nora ran into the city all by her lonesome, leaving her teammates sighing in relief.

"Oh thank Oum, we dodged a bullet there!" Said Jaune as they watched Nora disappear into the streets. He waited a couple of moments before speaking in fear of the possibility that Nora could hear him, and he did not say a word until she was completely out of sight. "Alright... wanna get some coffee now?"

* * *

Well, the mercenaries have certainly found an easy way to earn money. They didn't realize it the first time they were, but it turns out that there was some kind of festival occurring in the city. A lot of streets had been closed off to traffic specifically for people to set up shop and sell some things or entertain the happy festival goers, and some of the wider streets even had parades full of colorful floats travelling down them. All sorts of decorations and festivities were going on for something the locals called the "Vytal Festival". Now the mercs didn't know why it was so important to the people here, but all they cared about was that this opened an opportunity to make some easy money without actually getting real jobs.

In fact, the money was so easy that only a couple of them had to do anything. Might have been for the best though, I mean, most of these guys taking a normal job and keeping it for the day was highly unlikely anyway. All they needed was just enough money to buy food to last them a while, and that shouldn't be hard at all.

For instance, Pyro being the ever so happy giver of joy it is had set itself a little corner where it sold inflatable Balloonicorns and candy to happy children who popped by. While the parents of the children did question why this strange person suited up in fireproof gear was selling child-friendly things, their children couldn't resist the charm Pyro had when it came to being ultra friendly along with its merchandise. In the end they thought Pyro was just a goofy guy who decided to dress up in a costume for the festival.

"I must say that I am impressed, Pyro." Said Spy for he stayed with the pyromaniac to make sure he didn't set anything on fire. He and the other mercenaries, other than the ones attempting to rack in some easy money, kicked back close to Pyro and Medic, just chilling until they were ready to go. "I didn't expect you to be so good with young children."

"Mphm phm!" Pyro happily gave a thumbs up, its masks' lenses emoting as if it was the thing's actual face. All that Pyro needs to be happy is a few butterflies and happy faces, which butterflies meaning money since that's what Pyro saw it as.

"De rien. You already made quite a lot of money by doing this." Smiled Spy right as Pyro took another customer, who happened to be Nora Valkyrie when she chanced her way to find them here. Nora realized a while ago that she had no idea what the people she was looking for looked like, so she just decided to walk around the streets and enjoy the festival. "Though, I can't say the same for Scout over there..." The Frenchman trailed, looking over to Scout who had set up across the street. His stupid son set himself up in a hastily made booth of out of some wooden boards he found in an alley, and he was foolish enough to literally make it a kissing booth.

"Ladies! Come one, come all! The Scout's in town and I'm more than happy to give all of ya pretty girls a kiss you won't forget!" The Boston kid advertised proud and loud from his lonely booth, that obviously nobody went to. Any girls who actually bothered to stop and look at his pathetic little booth only laughed at him before carrying on. "Ha, playin' hard to get... I see. But you ain't gonna resist forever! I'll be waitin' _right_ here!" Scout said with a confident grin, totally ignorant that no matter how hard he believed, this was not going to work in any way.

A little way next to Scout was Medic who set himself up as a miracle doctor. In a lot of ways, he actually was one. The good doctor claimed to all passerby that his Medigun will heal away all of their health problems. At first, nobody came since they thought he was just a crazy guy looking to scam people with a lousy beam gun that wouldn't do anything. That all changed when a family of tourists from Vacuo stopped by and gave him a shot. The young daughter of the family convinced her father who had broken both legs in an accident long ago to try it out. Now the father didn't believe that the Medigun could heal for shit, but he gave it a shot anyway for his naive baby girl. Against everyone's expectations, the Medigun beam was locked right onto the man and his legs began to heal up! The man himself was too shocked to move away or even do anything, but his whole family was going hysterical in seeing that it was actually working. Other people nearby heard the commotion and stopped by to see what was happening, and soon they too were in awe with what they were seeing. Once the healing was done, the man stood up from his wheelchair and started crying in joy, happy that he was able to walk again after so long, and he even tackled the German to give him a man hug. You can bet that tons of people started flocking to Medic after that, all wanting to see his miracle device in action and even a lot of donations being given to him as a result.

The other mercs simply continued kicked back and enjoyed all the money Pyro and Medic were raking in, happy that things were going so well today.

"Yay! My honor is intact! I don't have to take a civilian job!" Soldier cheered.

"I ain't familiar with the money in this world, but I'd say we got way more than enough to buy ourselves some real food." Engie said to the crew after he was done counting the money. Right at that moment, their stomachs were beginning to growl again. They hadn't eaten since last night, and their last meal wasn't even all that much since they had to split what little they had. "Damn, I sure fancy myself some bacon right about now..."

"Aye, I'd like some bloody bacon too... but I think we ought to let Medic finish first. The man's got quite an audience!" Demo said, looking over to all the people gathered around the German to witness the marvel of his Medigun. Directly next to them, a happy Nora Valkyrie just received herself a Balloonicorn plush from Pyro.

"Hehe, I can't wait to show Ren this little cutie!" Nora cooed to herself, cuddling the soft plushie.

Then, her attention was turned to all the people crowded around Medic. She couldn't see what was going on since there was too many people in the way, but she was interested enough to inch her way through the crowd to see what was up. Once she got herself a front row seat, an elderly man who had a missing arm had stepped up to Medic, eager to see if he could get his arm restored by the good doctor. Nora just got here so she didn't know what to expect or why all these people had their scrolls out recording this, but the rest of the crowd did. She watched in awe as a red beam of energy that contained little red crosses connected with the elderly man, and before everyone's very eyes, his nonexistent arm began existing. The elderly man was asked to take his coat off to prove that his arm actually would grow back and that he wasn't an actor, and sure enough flesh began to extend out of the stump from his shoulder until it formed into a fully functional Human arm. It was all caught on video even as the people who were recording with their scrolls went just as wild as the rest of them.

"Calm down, everyone! Sir, please see if your arm works." Medic kindly said to the old man. He was hesitant at first due to being totally in disbelief that it actually worked, but then he regained enough of his senses to move his arm around. That arm was missing for years so he had to get used to it again, but it was indeed working as the man began moving around in basic flexes. "Haha! Yes! As you could see everyone, my creation is truly able to heal any injury no matter how severe!" Medic declared proudly, but then he was strangely met with gasps and screams. "Huh? Was ist los? Why are you all... oh, he had a heart attack. Oh dear..." Said the doctor rather casually as if it wasn't a big deal, looking down at the fallen man who was clutching his heart. Apparently, the man was so shocked and happy that his old heart couldn't take it, and now he was going into cardiac arrest.

"He's having a heart attack!" Nora yelled in terror, instinctively running forward to try and help in any way that she could. "Doctor, please do something!"

People began screaming, scaring the other mercenaries into thinking that they fucked up when things were going so well. Spy was just about to call this all off so that they could leave before the cops show up, but then Medic had enough sense to diffuse the situation. It was nothing really. All Medic had to do was keep the Medigun trained on him so that he couldn't die even if he tried. The red healing beam of the device connected on the man and stayed on him for as long as he needed it.

"There we are! Let's try and not get ourselves another heart attack, ja?" Laughed Medic in a friendly way as the man's eyes flew open.

"A-are you alright, mister?" Nora asked wearily, still comforting the old man.

Once the man calmed down enough for his heart to be stable, he gave a thumbs up and a loud happy cheer to announce that he was okay. The moment the man confirmed that he was perfectly fine, the crowd went even more insane than they already were. Soon, people were throwing a whole bunch of money in gratitude at the German, so much in fact that Medic alone may have made the team enough money to buy enough supplies to last them for months. The bags he had for people to put money in were completely filled to the brim.

"Sir, I can't thank you enough for what you did for me!" Cried the old man with tears of joy, throwing himself onto Medic in a big hug. "Never in all my years did I think that I was gonna get my arm back, but then you come along and did just that! Not only did you give me my arm back, but you saved my life too! If there's anyway I can repay you with, please let me know!" The grateful man broke the hug and then shook Medic's hand with all his might, a happy smile all the while. He then gave Medic a business card and shook his hand one last time before leaving to tell his friends and family the good news.

"Huh, zat was fun." The doctor said, pocketing the business card.

"Wow! You really can make miracles happen!" The girl by his side yelled excitedly as her energy and peppiness was beginning to rise after seeing what Medic could do. "Have you ever thought of working at a hospital? Or, OHH! Or you can work at Beacon Academy! That way we don't have to get stupid casts and bandages whenever we get hurt!"

"Hehehe, zat sounds nice, young lady..." Medic laughed, Nora's raw energy and aura of happiness beginning to affect him.

He smiled at all the positive attention he was receiving, something he didn't normally get since nearly everyone who knew of him back on Earth thought he was an insane mad doctor, in which they were completely right. Well, at least he still had enough sense to help people in need. He would have loved to stay here and continue showing off his miracle device, but then he noticed Spy wave at him from the corner of his eye. He turned his attention to the Frenchman, and saw that he was motioning at some police officers coming down the street to see what's got this crowd so riled up. Now even though the cops still weren't completely clear on what the mercs looked like just yet, the mercenaries still really didn't want to interact with the cops at all, so they were going to bugger out of here now.

"I am sorry everyone, but I'm afraid zat's all ze time I have for today!" Medic blurted out in a rush before hastily reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a smoke bomb. "SMOKE BOMB!" Near instantly, the entire street was covered in smoke, confusing and startling all the people as their vision was obscured. Medic grabbed his bags and immediately rushed into the crowd, pushing his way through all the people.

"Hey! Wait!" He heard a young girl's voice say from right behind him, and his eyes went wide to see that the little redhead girl was following him. "Why did you do that?" She asked worriedly, not realizing yet that he was trying to make a kinda stealthy getaway.

"Oh well, I um... er, it's all part of ze show!" He sweated with a nervous smile as he continued to push past people with Nora how on his tail.

"Show? Oh! Are you like a magician doctor!?" Nora chirped in wonder, still following him.

"Yes! Um, a magician must always keep his secrets, ja? Now stop following me, please!"

"But I got to show you to my friends though!" The cheery girl said, taking a firm hold on Medic's hand. She was unbelievably strong as Medic found that he was completely unable to break out of her grip, and soon he found himself getting dragged in the wrong direction.

"HELP ME!" Medic screamed to his friends.

"Oh, don't be so shy! My friends aren't gonna hurt you or anything like that." Nora got her scroll out with her free hand and began looking through her contacts. Medic caught a glimpse at who her contacts were, and he saw that she was friends with those same girls that the mercs were forced to beat up yesterday. As for Nora, she got her whole team and Team RWBY into one big group call where she had her camera enabled, meaning they could see both her and Medic.

"Hey guys! I found this awesome doctor magician! He has a magic gun that could heal anything!" The girl beamed, only to be met with a shriek. The shriek came from Ruby, and they were more like cries of excitement because Nora has just found one of their targets. "I know, right? He's so cool!" Smiled Nora, completely missing the real reason Ruby was screeching.

" _THAT'S ONE OF THEM! NORA, WHERE ARE YOU!?"_

"I'm like down the street from you guys, and what do you mean he's one of... them."

Nora didn't notice it because it happened during the chaos of Medic helping the old man, but Ruby did get to sending pics of what the mercs looked like. The pics weren't from the news since those weren't all that reliable with their poor quality, but instead they were kinda decent drawings that Ruby made herself of the mercenaries. The quality of the drawings was definitely better than what she usually does, but it still wasn't that great. It was, however, enough for Nora to recognize that the man who's hand she was holding against his will was indeed one of their targets. She blinked at the picture, and her eyes darted back and fort between her scroll and Medic until a grin spread across her face, the desire for justice flowing through her veins.

"AHA! Criminal scum! You have just been caught by the mighty Nora! Give up! There's no chance of you escaping!" Medic was beginning to lose hope, the smoke was clearing up and everyone could see again. However, this didn't out to be so much of a bad thing after all. Something that the other mercs were going to take full advantage of.

"LOOK! Little girl is trying to steal doctor's money!" Heavy yelled as if he were a part of the crowd.

"She threw the smoke bomb and tried to get away with it!" Sniper added.

"Huh? Oh! Don't worry everyone, I'm a huntress-in-training." Nora explained, but nobody was buying it.

"What kind of a chump steals money from a guy who just saved someone's life!?" Scout yelled. Soon the entire crowd that Medic had gathered up around him turned on Nora, angry faces and growls being directed at the lone Nora. Some men even grabbed her and pulled her away so that she would let go of Medic.

"No! Stop! You got it all wrong!" Nora cried as the crowd took her away. She didn't want to hurt any of these people, and so she was completely helpless as she disappeared into the mob of angry people. Medic managed to escape with the very appreciated help of the people who believed in him, and once he reached the other mercenaries they all escaped without any trouble.

However, there was a lot of trouble for Teams RWBY and JNPR though as they just arrived to find Nora getting backed into a corner by an angry mob. No matter how hard they tried to get the crowd to calm down, things threatened to turn violent hadn't the police and Atlesian soldiers showed up.

* * *

"...this is the second time this weekeend, ladies." A VPD officer sighed as he typed down in his scroll this incident.

"We're sorry officer..." Ruby apologized. "But we were so close though! We almost caught those vigilante guys."

"Vigilantes? You mean those guys who busted up my cruiser last night?" The officer said.

"Yep! I even got pictures of them I made myself!" She showed him the poorly made pictures of the mercs on her scroll, and the officer straightfaced. He didn't believe her for a second since she was just a kid, and he gave out a loud sigh.

" _Right_... just try not to get into any more trouble. The police will take care of this. You kids just enjoy the Vytal Festival, alright?" Said the officer as he left the teens to themselves.

"But-MPHM!" Ruby was about to say something until Weiss threw her hand onto her mouth to shut her up.

"Will do, officer! Now come on, let's go enjoy the festival like the kind officer said we should!" Said the heiress as she dragged Ruby away in an attempt to not get embarrassed even further. "That could've gone better..." Weiss sighed.

"Oh... I'm sorry guys. I let that criminal get away..." Nora sulked, prompting Ren to comfort her since they were good friends. She wasn't hurt at all since all the mob did was aggressively pull her away and that's it, but it really could have gotten worse.

"It's alright, Nora. It isn't your fault that the crowd thought you were the wrongdoer here."

"I guess so, but are these guys really bad guys?"

"Well, they're vigilantes. Why?" Asked Yang.

"That doctor guy had this cool magic beam gun that could heal anything! He literally made someone's arm grow back using it!" The girl said, sounding a lot less depressed and more impressed. All her friends did not look very convinced.

"Uh, Nora? Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?" Jaune asked worriedly since for all of Nora's hyperactive behavior, this was a little too far into the imaginative side.

"No, he really did! All these people around us saw it! Just ask them!" Nora gestured to them, but then she realized that these were the same people who were close to beating her up only a few minutes ago, and they all still looked quite irked about her. "Oh... on second thought, let's _not_ ask them."

"Ugh... looks like we're off to a rough start... but no worries! It's only ten o' clock, so we still got plenty of time to find these guys." Ruby chirped optimistically about their chances. The girl went into thinking mode, pretending that she was a detective like on a police show. "So... if they were brave enough to come back into the streets, then that must mean they're here in the city..."

" _Noooo..._ they're on the moon." Yang teased sarcastically. Ruby's dumb little statement was enough to get snickers out of all of her friends, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

"Q-quiet! It's not like you guys have anything better!" Flustered Ruby. "Now focus, where should we start looking for them..."

"Um, does a supermarket sound like a good place?" Said the Faunus of the team, staring off in the opposite direction. "Because they're right there."

...

"...what?" Ruby blinked. The caped girl looked to her teammate in confusion, before realizing that everyone else was already looking towards where she was pointing. Though it sounded really unlikely, the mercenaries really were walking away from a nearby supermarket, and with bags full of groceries for some reason.

"...Huh, that was easy." Jaune shrugged.

"Why are they walking out in the open? I thought you said they were criminals." Pyrrha said, wondering how come these guys were doing some very not criminal-like things right now. "Are you sure those are the men we are looking for?"

"YES!" Ruby and Yang screeched together, and before they even knew it, the sisters ran across traffic to meet Team Fortress in the parking lot.

* * *

The mercs had a really good run today. Other than that close call with Medic and that girl who almost got him caught, everything went perfectly swell and easy. Not only did they get their food and water, but they were also able to afford a fridge to keep that food from spoiling alongside a set of folding chairs and table for their base. They even got some wood and barbwire to fortify their base with. Now that they got the basic supplies that all lifeforms need to survive, they can finally set their sights on bigger things.

As the mercs were about to leave and return to their fortress, a familiar girl's voice yelled at them once again.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Right when they thought things were going to be easy today...


	5. Chapter 5

**MiR V2 Chp. 5 A0**

* * *

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A familiar girl's voice yelled to the mercenaries.

Rather lazily, Team Fortress turned to face the voice and were welcomed by the sight of eight teenagers, most of them girls with only two of them being boys. All of them had weapons of varying kinds drawn, but not pointed at them. These teens were none other than Teams RWBY and JNPR, and they clearly weren't here with positive intent. Despite this, Team Fortress simply stood where they were calmly, not really threatened at all by the teens. They didn't even have their weapons out, they were only holding the stuff they bought.

"Oh, it is just Ruby and her friends." Said the Russian rather calmly, giving a small smile as greeting to the nice girl he met yesterday.

"Hey kids." Sniper tipped his hat to them and gave his own welcoming smile.

"We're not kids! We're huntresses!" Ruby barked in the fiercest way she could, which only ended up making her look silly cute.

"And two huntsmen." Ren tried to say, but everyone otherwise ignored him. He was fine with that though and he let Ruby continue.

"You guys were lucky that we were going easy on you yesterday, but not today! Today you will face the full might of Team RWBY, and our friends in Team JNPR! Together we will stop you from... um, whatever you're doing now!" Ruby threatened, all her friends and teammates looking rather proud. "What are you guys up to now, huh? Are those bags for criminal things later!?"

"Nope." Engie shook his head. "We just bought ourselves some food, young lady. Even got a fridge and a table set for tonight." He held up the large bag of food he had, and the the others just kind of showed that they very obviously had legally purchased items. The teens felt slightly awkward and glanced at each other since it looked like they were telling the truth, but they still remained with their weapons out. The mercenaries however, had no interest in staying here so they turned to leave. "Welp, it's been nice talkin' to ya kids again. See y'all later. Come on boys. I'm gonna cook us some bacon!"

"Hey! Don't walk away while we're talking to you!" Yang yelled angrily, not liking how the mercenaries clearly weren't taking them seriously at all. At least the mercs bothered to stop and face them again, albeit reluctantly since they were getting annoyed of the teens.

"Ruby... these guys aren't doing anything wrong." Jaune pointed out to Ruby.

"Are you absolutely certain these are the men we're looking for? They seem innocent." Pyrrha added.

"She's not wrong, you know! We have done absolutely nothing wrong in ze time we have spent in zis world." Medic said in their defense.

"Humph, that's a lie..." The heiress scoffed, thinking back to what they pulled off last night on the cops and their actions against the White Fang.

"Whatever you say, twinkletoes. All that matters is that this entire unit is starving and we now got some grub. Come on maggots, let's get back to base and eat something already!" Soldier said, all the mercs' stomachs beginning to rumble at once.

"Ugh... well, it has been nice speaking to you kids again. Now if you excuse me, my comrades and I are going to leave now. We haven't had much to eat since we first got here." Spy said, giving them a nod before the entire crew turned to leave.

"WE'RE NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" Yang raged, getting a little more than beyond agitated with how the mercs still weren't taking them seriously.

Ruby was still looking a little puzzled at the innocent activity these criminals were doing. There was some kind of genuineness in how they said that they were starving and stuff that she believed. She blushed a little in guilt due to this, but she shook it off and returned to the matter at hand. They still are wanted by the cops, and that makes them criminals. She put on the most serious face she could and glared at them with her silver eyes.

"Okay, so you guys are doing something normal... but that doesn't change anything! You guys are still baddies, and we're going to either beat you up and take you in, or you can surrender peacefully. That's how it works! Simple as that." She stated confidently, eyes closed in an attempt to look cool and giving them a moment to let that sink in.

"...They're still walking away." Blake said, prompting Ruby's eyes to shoot open and see the mercs walking away.

" _HEEEY_! Come on! We're being serious!" Ruby pouted angrily, beginning to steam a little in frustration. All of her team except for Blake were also getting increasingly mad at the mercenaries, while Team JNPR awkwardly stood back as this situation was greatly confusing them.

"Let them go, Ruby. These men have done nothing wrong." The always levelheaded Ren said to calm them down, but Ruby wasn't having any of it.

"But they're the ones who stole those cars from the police last night!" She cried.

"How do you know that?" Jaune asked. At this point the entirety of Team JNPR was convinced that Team RWBY got the wrong guys.

"Because they were on the news! They ran away from the cops after destroying that White Fang hideout, and then they stole those cars from that place while the police were still there! Just like I told you!" Fumed Ruby, beginning to reach a boiling point as she watched the mercs still walking away.

"The news isn't always a reliable source of information, Ruby." Pyrrha told the smaller girl, but Ruby was no longer listening to anyone now.

"Stop! I'm warning you! Give up now, and we won't beat you up!" She threatened.

"Yeah, whatever you say, sheila." Sniper muttered out as they continued to leave.

That was it for Ruby. She was so done with this. How dare they not take them seriously!? With her scythe out, she shot herself forward using the gun and sailed straight to Sniper where she planned on delivering a punishing flying double kick. Which completely missed since the Australian man sidestepped it and let her fly past him. Wasn't too much of an issue for Ruby though since she easily landed on her feet and skidded to a halt, successfully halting the mercenaries with her gun pointed at them. The rest of Team RWBY closed in, surrounding the mercenaries with Team JNPR hesitantly following them.

"FINAL WARNING!" Ruby shouted, chambering in a new round.

"Ruby, I swear to you that we have done nothing wrong." Heavy said in an unsuccessful attempt to calm her down. "But if you wish to fight, then we will fight you." The mercenaries still did not have their weapons out, but they now had mean looks on their faces since Ruby was seriously getting on their nerves.

"Yeah Ruby, just stop!" Nora cried.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be our backup!" Yang yelled at them.

"Not for fighting innocent guys on the street!" Jaune yelled back before turning to face the mercenaries. "We're sorry for our friends, things just get a little crazy around them..." He explained calmly with a shy smile.

Ruby was about to yell something out about how Jaune was a traitor, but then they all heard someone yelling at them from not too far away. It was a cop, the exact same one who talked to them not too long ago when Nora got into trouble with the crowd, and he was walking over to them along with a few of his buddies. They were still in the area when the teens confronted the mercs, and it did not take long for them to get attracted by all the yelling and shouting happening between the two sides in the parking lot. None of the teens noticed it since they were all focused on the cops, but Team Fortress looked a little tense that the cops were approaching them. Still, they stayed where they were since attempting to leave now would be suspicious, and these cops have already seen what they look like. Just in case though, they were prepared to pop smoke and run/fight.

"Hey! What the Hell did I just tell you kids a few minutes ago!?" The officer scolded them, specifically looking at Ruby since she broke her promise to him pretty much instantly.

" _Ohhhh..._ Hi, officer..." Ruby laughed nervously as the cop glared down at her. She took a quick glance at Team Fortress quietly standing there, and was instantly reminded with what her goal was. "Officer! That's them! Those are the vigilante guys!"

"Quiet, kid. I don't want to hear it. This is the second time you caused trouble _today._ "

"But-"

"No buts! Just stay out of police business. You're not even fully trained huntresses yet!"

"And huntsmen." Jaune added this time, but just like Ren he was ignored. The problems of being the only two guys in a group of eight...

"If I catch you bothering people again, then I'm gonna send you right back to your headmaster." The officer said seriously, before turning to the nine mercenaries who wanted nothing more than to have the cops _not_ here. "Sorry about the kids, guys. They've got a history of trouble..." The officer sighed, thinking back on their record of somehow getting involved with major organized crime syndicates and massive property damage in their attempts to stop them. It wasn't that any of the things they did were bad, it was just that they _always_ got into some kind of major trouble whenever they are in the city.

The mercs gave the friendly cop a nod, and then speed walked out of their in the most not obvious way they could since being around cops was always risky. Team RWBY glared at them as they left, feeling very fucking salty that nobody believed them on this.

"This still isn't the last you will hear of us!" Ruby yelled, but she was quickly hushed by the cops. Still, the huntress was determined to face them later on and prove to everyone that they were right. This whole thing really got onto Team RWBY's nerves since they did not need the extra stress of these guys running around while still reeling from their failure to prevent the breech from happening last week. It was just irritating, and really annoying.

* * *

A little while later, the guys have made it at about the halfway mark between their hidden factory base and from where they encountered Team RWBY and company. This area of the city was bordering that of the industrial and commercial districts, and the buildings were changing from rows of stores and apartments to industrial factory complexes and warehouses. The mercenaries were still all very hungry, and they couldn't wait to get back to base. Engie refused to set up the emergency Teleporter because it was meant for just that, emergencies. May have been for the best too since it gave the mercs another element of surprise. In fact, the only people in this world who have some idea of what the mercs could do were Neo and Roman, but not even they knew the full range of the team's abilities.

"Geez, those girls must really not like us or something..." Said Scout.

"It must be because they're infected by Communism and want to give it to _us_!" Soldier suggested in his stupid way of thinking. "Noooooooooo! Communist germs have followed us from Earth to here! Damn it, men, we must burn everything!"

"Mphmm?" Pyro asked, taking its Flamethrower out before Heavy forced it to put it away.

"The only thing zat's infected here is your brain, mein freund. Infected with ze stupid..." Medic chuckled softly, earning a few laughs from the others. But knowing Soldier, of course he was going to take it seriously. The patriot's jaw dropped upon hearing that he had a disease.

"Dear God... men, it was an honor serving with you..."

"Aye, same here, mate. But I wouldn't worry about it, because I've got a cure!" Demo smiled, holding up some Scrumpy. "Bottle o' this should do you wonders!"

 _"It will only make him more stupid..."_ Heavy muttered softly. The Russian man couldn't stop thinking about how much that nice young girl from yesterday turned very hostile all because of a misunderstanding. It wasn't really his problem and he shouldn't care so much, but Heavy did _not_ like it when people called him a bad guy. While he does agree that his team aren't exactly the most law abiding people out there, they are far from actual bad guys. He has seen bad guys, from his time in the gulag to Gray Mann, and the mercs are nothing like them.

"...you have got to be kidding me." Spy groaned.

"What's the matter, mate?" Sniper asked. Spy didn't say a word, but he did look over his shoulder and shook his head at something. When the mercs turned to see what he was looking at, they saw none other than Team RWBY and Team JNPR trying to follow them stealthily. The others were actually somewhat well hidden, but Ruby was in the process of moving when the mercs turned.

"Meep!" The girl squeaked before darting behind a streetlight, not being very well hidden at all, especially with her bright red cape. Her friends collectively face palmed at her unstealthy antics.

"They must be trying to follow us to our secret base..." The Frenchman muttered, still staring directly at the shaking Ruby along with the other mercs. "Looks like we'll have to deal with them after all."

"They _are_ communists!" Soldier yelled.

"No they ain't, Soldier. They're just a bunch of dumb kids." Engie said.

The mercs had already seen them, but the teens are still hiding as if they were the sneakiest bunch of ninjas ever. Maybe Ren and Blake since they came pretty close to being ninjas, but the rest were far from it. Seeing that there was going to be a confrontation no matter what, the mercs walked into an empty parking lot for a dust refinery. The lot was empty due to it being a weekend, and everyone was out in the city for the Vytal Festival.

"Alright, come out here you bunch of little brats!" Scout called out to them.

"We know you're bloody there! We've already seen ye!" Demo shouted when there was no answer.

" _Nooooooo... we're not following you or anything like that._ " Said Ruby in a totally stealthy voice, getting very audible hushes from her friends that even the mercs could hear from where they were at. You can imagine how much harder they facepalmed this time. So they then jumped out of their hiding spots and faced the mercenaries, surprisingly not having hand marks on their faces from facepalming.

"Real sneaky sis..." Yang muttered to Ruby.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha nervously waved to the mercs with a friendly smile. Team JNPR still wasn't feeling all that convinced that the mercenaries were criminals, but they couldn't just leave Team RWBY to get themselves in trouble _again_. That and Team RWBY was going to go after the mercs anyway no matter what they said, so they ultimately had no choice.

"What is it that kids want?" Heavy asked in a much more serious tone than earlier. "We do not have time for games. We are hungry."

"The only thing you're going to be eating is my fist..." Yang threatened with a grin, making Heavy narrow his eyes on her.

"This is your final, _FINAL_ chance to give up!" Ruby ordered the increasingly irritated mercs.

"Darn, ain't you gals learned a thing from when we whooped you yesterday? We already told y'all we done nothing wrong, but then you done got yourselves beat. Looks like y'all didn't learn from your mistakes..." Engie shook his head in disapproval. "Why don't you do the adult thing and just hear us out?"

"Yeah, it'd be pretty embarrassing to get beat twice by us again. You brats even brought your friends to get beat up too!" Said Scout with a mix of honesty and mockery.

"It'd be a shame if we had to beat the pulp out of some annoying kids again." Sniper added.

"Not to mention make us look bad. We are supposed to be professional mercenaries..." Sighed Spy.

When Spy mentioned that they were mercenaries, that threw Team RWBY into some instant confusion. The four of them temporarily stopped being mad and glanced at each other in surprise. Blake wasn't as taken aback as her teammates for she half-expected something like this, but this still didn't explain why the police caught up to them so easily. There was definitely way more to them than Team RWBY thought, even if it was still just Blake who suspected something was wrong about them.

"Wait... you guys are mercenaries?" Yang asked confusedly.

"You're damn right we are! The best gang of mercenaries this world's ever seen!... Oh wait, at least on our world! But I'm pretty damn sure we're gonna be the best in this world too. Just saying." Scout shrugged with his signature grin.

"Our world?" Blake repeated after Scout, getting even more mindhurt over what the background to these guys possibly was. However, her teammates completely disregarded that bit of info though and focused on the mercenary part. They had no reason to believe anything he was saying anyway, but the mercenary part really stuck out to them.

"If you guys are mercenaries... then that means someone hired you to do those things you did!" Ruby exclaimed with a light bulb of brilliance. Her friends were falling in line with her reasoning since it made some kind of sense now.

"Couldn't be any further from the truth, missy..." Engie sighed. "We're unemployed. Got fired the other night."

"Oh... so you guys _are_ vigilantes?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Come on Ruby, are you really going to believe him? Look, it doesn't matter if you're vigilantes, mercenaries, or whatever, all that matters is that you're criminals no matter how you put it." Said the ice cold heiress. Her icy stare focused on Spy out of all of them since she despised his guts after he electrocuted the Hell out of her yesterday.

"Why are we even bothering with talking to these guys? They're not gonna do what we say anyway..." Yang said, assuming her fighting stance.

The mercenaries couldn't deny that. They were having enough of these silly teenagers and had already pulled their weapons out for a fight, but they wouldn't attack first. The teenagers had a similar idea, themselves raising their already out weapons for combat. Neither side was willing to attack the other just yet, merely having an intense standoff with no sound to be heard at all. Then, a single shot was heard, and all Hell broke loose.

Both sides wasted no time in getting right to work. The teens rushed to meet their foes while the members of Team Fortress held their ground. This time around, the mercenaries were actually shooting at them with their weapons, but they were loaded with nonlethal ammunition after with what they agreed on last night. Killing some dumb teenagers didn't sit well for the mercs anyway. The teens found that dodging and blocking these projectiles was so much harder for some reason, but they carried on with their attack anyway.

That was until Engineer pulled a completely unexpected move and deployed a Level 3 Sentry, where the rapid fire turret instantly broke their charge with the sheer amount of rubber bullets it was spraying on them. In response to this, Weiss quickly conjured up a wall of ice using the dust in her rapier, where every single one of them took cover behind it. Cracks and shattering was already happening on the wall due to all the firepower the mercenaries were pouring down on it, and there wasn't going to be a lot of time before it falls.

"THIS ESCALATED VERY QUICKLY!" Jaune screamed over the deafening noise of the Sentry Gun chipping away at their icy cover. The ice was not see-through, and they dared not peek their heads out unless they wanted to get shot up for some reason by the endless stream of rubber bullets from the Sentry Gun.

"Where did that turret even come from!?" Blake yelled.

"Who cares!? That thing is going to tear through my ice wall any second now!" The heiress struggled to reinforce her wall with glyphs from her semblance, and though they were extremely helpful, they were wearing away quickly as Engineer poured concussive rockets onto them. "We better do something, quick!"

"Okay, okay... Blake! We're going to go out there and get his attention, and then we're going to, uh... we're going to attack him from two sides using our speed!" The leader of Team RWBY said. "And then-"

 ***KABOOM***

A huge explosion just destroyed a large portion of their cover, forcing them to scoot even closer together for protection. Even over the noise of battle, the teens could hear the mercenaries taunting them on the other side of the wall.

"YOU BETTER NOT BE STRATEGIZING BEHIND THAT WALL, MAGGOTS!" Soldier's muffled voice came from behind the wall. "IF YOU ARE, THEN I'LL BE FORCED TO COURT MARTIAL YOU WITH MY FIST PRESIDING AS JUDGE! AND THEN, I'M GOING TO PUT YOU CUPCAKES THROUGH BOOT CAMP WHERE YOU'LL ALL BE CRYING FOR YOUR PARENTS TO SAVE YOU!" And so on. Soldier kept ranting about the kinds of punishments he'll do to them and so I'll let you imagine what else he said to them.

"I can't hold it much longer!" It was putting an immense strain on the heiress to keep up the wall, and she was already beginning to tire out. The teens as a whole were already quite stressed about getting pinned down by overwhelming firepower, and they couldn't see where the mercs were.

"Hey, do you guys smell something burning?" Nora asked, sniffing the air.

"BURNING!?" Weiss screamed, before all of a sudden a storm of flames melted her ice wall right down to a big puddle of water.

"HA, I KNEW YOU WERE STRATEGIZING!" Screamed the Soldier.

With their cover gone, the teens popped their heads up and were greeted by the not very welcoming sight of Pyro standing before them with its Flamethrower raised above its head as it laughed maniacally under its mask. It was terrifying to say the least, but the teens braved up and rushed the pyromaniac. This did not turn out very well since they temporarily forgot that the other mercs were still there, which the guys were nice enough to remind them through various ways. Such as Sniper headshotting Nora and Yang between the eyes with master accuracy, Soldier and Demo blowing them up, Scout bashing Jaune across the belly with his Bat, and most importantly, Heavy and Engineer spraying bullets down onto them.

Their was no time to make any sort of plan since the mercs were right on top of them, so the teens got right to work in engaging them. Yang went straight to Heavy and Medic since she wanted to get payback on the doctor for sedating her, Weiss got singled out by Spy and now they were having a rematch, Nora and Pyrrha fought Demoman and Pyro respectively, Jaune was stuck with Scout, and Ren was busy with Pyro...

Ruby and Blake rushed straight to Engineer since he easily was going to give them the most trouble with his Sentry Gun, even more so now that he had it wrangled to double its fire rate. The two girls went with the same plan that they scrapped together a minute ago, and now they were moving on Engineer from each side in a pincer attack. Engie wasn't able to focus fire on both of them, and so Blake used this to her advantage when he locked the Sentry on Ruby. She ran close to him, until Engie was made aware of how dangerously close she was and turned the Sentry on her. Blake reacted by deploying her shadow clones to fake him out, and she was soon right on top of him with a clean dropkick that knocked him to the ground.

"Stay down!" Blake ordered the man with Gambol Shroud at his throat. The Sentry Gun had stopped firing since the Wrangler was down, but its energy shield remained. Ruby came in and had a huge grin on her face since she was very pleased with how rather easy it was to defeat Engineer.

"Good work Blake!" Ruby cheered, before getting headshotted by Sniper who had ran all the way to the back of the lot so he got some distance. Her aura held out, but the force was still enough to hurt a lot. "OWWWW! Who did that!?" The girl cried angrily, looking around until she heard the Australian man cackling to himself in the distance. "Humph! Tie him up and help the others, he's mine..." Growled the little cutie before dashing off with her semblance to face Sniper up close. Before she could even move though, Engineer grabbed her foot and prevented her from going anywhere.

"I said stay down!" Blake yelled once again at the Texan man.

"I think it's y'all who'll be wanting to stay down..." Grinned Engie. Both girls had no idea what he was talking about, but they were quickly reminded that Sniper was still shooting at them. A round came flying towards Ruby again but she was quick enough to dodge her head. Sniper wasn't what they should be worried about though, for the Sentry again was set to automated again.

Neither of the girls expected that the Sentry could actually shoot by itself since they thought Engie was manually controlling it, and their only warning was a single beep before they were sprayed down with bullets and rockets. Both of them were hosed down with so many bullets that it was like getting blown away by an ultra powerful firehose.

"Hahaha! I told y'all to stay down!" The Texan laughed as he got to his feet. Soon, he ordered the Sentry to stop firing once the girls have had enough.

Back with the rest of them, things were looking a little bad for the teens. Jaune was not having a fun time against Scout since he was too damn fast for the knightly boy to handle. All Scout had to do was constantly outmaneuver him and shoot at him with his Force-A-Nature. The only thing Jaune being able to do in response was cover himself up with his shield.

"What's the matter, kid? Oh, I know! You ain't never fought nobody like me! Boston's toughest bruiser, baby!" Snickered Scout as he kept running around and pounding away at the helpless Jaune.

"I don't even know where that is!" The boy grunted as every shell from the Force-A-Nature contained enough force for him to nearly lose his grip on his shield when shot. In fact, he did lose his grip with one shot blew the shield out of his hold where Scout closed in, jammed the barrel against his chest, and fired the other shell. Screaming came from Jaune as he flew away due to knockback and raw damage, Scout laughing in his cocky way all the while.

On Yang's side, her intended payback on Medic was not going so well since Heavy was there to keep him safe. Both Heavy and Yang devolved straight into a boxing match when both of them ran out of ammo and had no time to reload. It was a completely unfair fight since Medic made sure any damage Heavy took was wiped away, and Yang was beginning to wear out against her opponents. Let's not forget that Sniper was still aiming a shot at her every once in a while. The fight quickly ended when Medic got cheeky and leaped around Heavy, dodged an uncoordinated swing from the tiring out Yang, and stuck her with a needle to sedate her _AGAIN_.

Pyrrha was standing her ground fairly well against Soldier, but even she found it quite difficult to fight the world's ultimate soldier. Her only advantages were in maneuverability and defense, but Soldier was able to make up for that with his raw offensive power and durability. Sniper did shoot at her as well, but her shield did protect her body from most shots while she fought against Soldier.

Ren was not having such a hot time, punny considering how he's fighting Pyro. The poor boy found out first hand that Pyro was a monster of fire, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do against it. Pyro's Flamethrower meant that Ren couldn't get close up to perform his usual lightning fast melee attacks, and so the boy was forced to shoot at Pyro while keeping his distance from it as best as he could. The bullets seemed to do little though as Pyro either dodged them, melted them, or even airblasted them back at him. It did not help that Sniper would purposefully aim for his legs in an attempt to trip him out for Pyro to destroy him.

Nora was actually having a really good time. Even with Sniper occasionally shooting at her, she was just having a blast fighting Demoman, no pun intended. She didn't expect Demoman to be so much fun to fight, and he was so cool too! Both of them went back and forth blasting grenades at each other, until finally Nora closed in for melee combat only to be pleasantly surprised that Demoman could stand up against her.

"Not bad for a little girl!" Demo told her while his Eyelander was locked with Nora's Magnhild.

"Thanks!" The girl chirped. "You're not so bad yourself!"

"Of course I am, girl! I'm the team's resident explosives expert!"

"EXPLOSIVES EXPERT!? :O" Nora exclaimed. Unexpectedly, she dropped her guard and gazed at Demo with wonder. "Do you have anything we can blow stuff up with!?" She asked excitedly, totally forgetting that they were in a fight. Alternatively, she may not have really cared about the fight that much since Team JNPR was just sort of dragged into this.

"Do I have anything to blow stuff up with? Why you bet ye two eyes that I do!" Demo said, lowering his own guard as well as he reached into his pouch for something that blows up. Clearly, he didn't really care that they were in a fight all that much either. The alcohol may have helped with that. Heavy and Medic were coming over to assist Demo in taking Nora down, but they stopped just short of pounding her when she turned friendly out of nowhere.

"...alright." Medic shrugged.

"This is fine." Heavy nodded, glad that they didn't need to hurt _all_ of them. He then felt something patting against his back, and he turned around to see the extremely drowsy Yang weakly punching him with no effect whatsoever. The girl was very resistant to the sedatives since her adrenaline levels had been high, but only enough to barely keep her awake it would seem.

"Sit down." Heavy told her, before having to make the resistant blonde literally sit down when she refused to.

" _No..._ _fair..._ " She weakly growled, eyes getting heavy yet she still resisted sleeping.

On Spy and Weiss' side, the heiress was increasingly getting more annoyed and frustrated with how she was barely able to hit Spy. Any hits she did make were minor and barely counted as doing any damage. Weiss was by no means a poor fencer, it was just that Spy was just a master level fencer and how he had tons of experience in other martial arts to back him up in this fight. Also, Weiss was already significantly weakened with the drain her semblance had on her earlier in the fight.

"Sloppy." Said the Frenchman after sidestepping a lunge stab from her, and he followed it up by sweeping her legs so that she fell flat on her back. "Are you done playing around? My colleagues and I do not have time for your kids' silly games."

"You think this is all a game!?" The heiress yelled in anger, getting up to her feet. She didn't even try to attack him again, she just got all up to his chest and stared up at the taller Frenchman's straight face. "Excuse you, but do you know who you are talking to!?"

"No, not really." He said plainly, glancing behind him for a quick second to see how the others were doing.

The fight was pretty much over at this point. Jaune was down for the count with Scout giving him a long speech about how he was the best. Pyrrha actually gave up since this fight was pointless anyway, and Soldier was more than happy to accept her surrender. Yang was slung over Heavy's shoulder, finally asleep. Nora and Demoman had become instant friends out of fucking nowhere and were now having an in depth conversation on the finer art of blowing shit up. Like Pyrrha, Ren also made peace since the fight was pointless, and Pyro was absolutely overjoyed that it made a new friend. Engineer was currently giving Ruby and Blake a legitimately good-natured talk on why they fucked up deciding to fight the mercenaries, tying them up with lasso rope as he did so. Sniper was returning from his spot since all fighting had stopped.

"How dare you look away while I am talking to you!?" She yelled, causing Spy to look back at her lazily.

"Weiss! What are you doing!? Hit him!" Ruby yelled from where Engineer was tying her and Blake together with rope, the Sentry Gun locked on them should they try and fight back.

"Hang on a minute Ruby, now what on Remnant do you mean you don't know who I am!? I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Never heard of you. As a matter of fact, there is _zero_ chance that I or any of my colleagues have heard of you." Spy answered plainly but truthfully once again, annoying Weiss with not only how he didn't know who she was, but also how calm he was about this.

In fact, she got so angry that she actually tried to slap Spy. This move did not work in any way whatsoever as Spy easily caught her hand and quickly disarmed her other hand of Myretenaster. Weiss struggled with all her might, but it was useless.

With Weiss down and the others having given up, the fight was effectively over now.


	6. Chapter 6

**MiR V2 Chp. 6 A0**

* * *

 **Industrial District, Some Parking Lot At Some Dust Refinery**

Team RWBY and Team JNPR were utterly defeated by Team Fortress, not big surprise. Except Team JNPR more like gave up on the fight instead of actually getting beaten. The teenagers were getting rounded up together in the middle of the parking lot while Team Fortress was also gathering around them. Yang had fallen asleep after finally succumbing to the sedatives Medic injected in her, Ruby and Blake were tied together by Engineer, and Weiss was getting her feisty ass dragged over by Spy to her friends. None of them had their weapons except for Team JNPR since they were mostly cool with Team Fortress, taken away by the mercs since they've been bad. Team JNPR also had their weapons taken away since they surrendered, but only because they didn't want the innocent mercs to not like them anymore than they already did. As for Team Fortress, the guys had put all their weapons away including Engineer's Sentry Gun.

"Yep, what'd I say? I done told y'all to talk it out like adults. Now look what at what you made us do to you. Got yourselves whooped _again_." Engie said, shaking his head in disapproval yet still having a friendly smile. "Look, we all know that y'all are just a bunch of dumb kids who don't know any better, but take our word when we say we ain't done a damn thing wrong." Ruby and Weiss were silent, both of them glaring at the mercs who defeated them. They really thought they were gonna win this time with Team JNPR's help, only for that to not be the case at all. Blake however thought she might as well take this opportunity to get some questions answered.

"Then why did you attack that White Fang hideout yesterday?" Blake asked.

"White Fang? Never heard of them." Engie answered honestly, the other mercs muttering out similar responses. The teens did not believe him at all, obviously. How could anyone _not_ hear about the White Fang, especially with the surge of activity they've been up to in the last couple of months? Hell, Team RWBY was involved in at least three incidents involving the White Fang since the school year at Beacon began.

"Do you mean those animal people we fought yesterday morning?" Asked Spy who was in the process of taking a cigarette out from his cigarette case. "If so, then that battle was an accident." He answered honestly, the teens of course not believing him again.

"Wait, wait, wait... so you're saying you _did_ attack the White Fang?" Jaune blinked. Team JNPR didn't believe the mercenaries had done anything at all, but now that the mercs were kind of admitting to it, they didn't know what to say.

"No, they _attacked_ us after we accidentally crashed into their hideout..." Spy said, glancing at Soldier who was the one responsible for starting that mess. "We tried to apologize for our actions, but then they attacked. There was no other course of action other than to defend ourselves with force. Also, I know you're going to ask about why we ran from the police next, and let me just say that it is not exactly a... welcoming sight when dozens of policeman are pointing guns at you, especially if you're armed liked us. If police in this world are anything like the ones back in ours, then that incident would have ended _very,_ and I really do mean **_very_** differently if we had stayed in that place."

" _He said 'our world' again..._ " Blake whispered to her friends, but they were vastly more interested in everything else except that.

"Well if you guys are oh _sooo_ innocent, then why did you steal those cars from the police last night?" Asked the angry little heiress. "Not to mention all those police cars you wrecked... how do you explain that, hmm?" Though her face didn't show it, she was feeling all smug in herself for exposing them about this. Her friends were quiet, waiting to hear what other kind of bullshit they'll answer with.

"What, are you freakin' stupid? Cuz I think you got this all mixed up in that pretty little head of yours." Scout mocked, earning a glare of total hatred from Weiss. "The cops stole _from_ us. We just did the reasonable thing and took our stuff back." He shrugged.

"Well... that's not exactly how I would put it, but yes. We couldn't just leave our vehicles for the cops to lock away in some garage, otherwise we would have to walk everywhere." Spy added to his son's simple explanation.

I don't think I need to say it again, but none of them believed the mercs. Even if they did sound oddly genuine, their explanations for their actions were way too convenient and stupid to be true. There's just no way that this all could have happened because of an accident. What's more is that for whatever reason, these guys were playing it off like they don't know what the White Fang was, and it kinda sounded like they didn't know what Faunus were for that matter.

 ***DYNAMIC STOMACH GROWLING***

"Oh Lord... damn you kids! This fight only made us hungrier!" Demo cursed at them in agony, clutching his empty belly.

"Heavy does not like being hungry. I need Sandvich now." The Russian growled.

"If there were words to describe how starving I am, then it would have to be excruciatingly offensive. Because the fact that any American trooper can get this hungry is a disgrace to the uniform!" Soldier cried out. "This is all your fault for starting this engagement to begin with, maggots!"

"You guys started this fight!" Weiss yelled, her friends agreeing with her wholeheartedly. The mercenaries disagreed.

"Nuh-uh! You brats shot at us first! I heard it! Plus the girl in the red cape tried to get a cheap shot in on my pal Sniper earlier!" Scout yelled back.

A full blown argument between the two sides occured, each accusing the other of starting the fight while also denying the other side's claims. Blake was the most levelheaded about this, but it was because she didn't really care about it. Instead, she thought about everything the mercenaries had said. The facts that she could pin down were this, they were mercenaries who think they're from another world, act like they don't know what Faunus or who the White Fang are, and they wiped the White Fang hideout because of an accident. Either these guys were freaking morons and idiots for thinking they would believe this, or they were telling the truth no matter how unlikely that sounds. While her friends thought they were just crazy and Blake also wanted to believe it, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong still. These guys could pull weapons and items out of nowhere from little pouches or whatever, something her friends did notice, and a lot of them spoke in strange accents that aren't common to hear around Remnant, if they are heard at all. The only one she recognized was Sniper's since his accent was similar to how Velvet the Rabbit Faunus sounded when she spoke.

"Okay, that is enough! Everyone stop arguing!" Spy shouted out. Initially, nobody listened because they were still arguing with each other, but then Spy shot his Revolver into the air to fully get their attention. "ENOUGH! It doesn't matter who started this fight. What matters is that you kids will leave us alone. I do not want to have to fight you all every day while we are stuck in this world..." A rumbling sound in their stomachs quickly reminded the mercenaries what the whole point of going out today was. "Plus we are _very_ hungry. Go home and do not come after us again. Engineer, untie those two."

The teens were in no position to resist the mercs any further. They all kept quiet while they waited for the mercs to let them go, feeling both embarrassed and guilty about what happened today. Of course they believed the mercs were still criminals and they were lying about what had happened, but at least now they understand that they're not necessarily bad guys like the villains they've been facing lately. Team Fortress waited for Engie to free Ruby and Blake first before returning the teens' weapons back.

"Alrighty then, hold still ladies. I'm gonna let you go." Engie said as he began untying Ruby and Blake.

"We're still gonna kick your butt..." Grumbled grumpy little Rubes, giving Engie a mean look as he untied them.

"Hmm?" The Texan hummed, pausing right as he grabbed the knot. "Really now? Ain't that right? And here I was thinking you were a good kid... when are you gonna learn that you're wasting your time on us? We ain't bad guys, young lady."

"Even if you're not **_bad_** bad guys, you're still criminals! We're gonna put a stop to whatever crimes you're doing!" The girl threatened with a brave face.

"Heh, looks like you don't mind getting whooped again.." The friendly man smiled, even if Ruby looked like she wajted nothing more than to sock him in the face. "We keep telling y'all we ain't done no wrong, you don't belive us, and you keep getting whooped... That's not very bright for a pretty young girl like you."

"You're wanted by the police though!." She pointed out in an attempt to at least find some justification for this.

"Heh, we ain't wanted if the cops don't know we did anything wrong. Besides, we only did what we did because it was necessary. We ain't gonna do nothing like it again unless we have to." He assured her, his smooth Texan way of speaking oddly soothing to Ruby's ears. "Now let's get you two untied. I don't know how much longer I can last without eating me some bacon..." Ruby was very close to actually headbutt him in frustration, for what little good that would do against his helmet, but then Engie shoved a chocolate bar in her mouth. The same bar she shot in half yesterday. "That one's yours. Real nice of you to claim it with a damn bullet!" He laughed, finishing up on untying the girls. The mercenaries half expected Ruby to try and rush Engie, but luckily she didn't. Otherwise she would have received quite a spanking.

"You know we still don't believe you on this being an accident." Blake told them as she and Ruby stood up. She guessed that an accident would sorta explain why they were so clumsy about the police catching up to them, but it was still just too ridiculous to be true.

"Eh, believe whatever you want. The boys and I know for damn sure what happened..." The Texan softly chuckled to himself. "If you kids want to keep coming after us, that's all on y'all. But just try to be more friendly next time. I don't like having to hurt kids like y'all, and I don't think the boys do either. Y'all seem like nice kids."

"Yes, goodbye Ruby. I hope you are not so stupid next time we meet. Maybe we can talk about weapons." Heavy said to the grouchy little Ruby with a nod.

The mercenaries left after that, taking all of their bought goods and waving them goodbye and handing them their weapons back. They knew they weren't going to try anything right when they turned their backs on them, not after the ass beating they gave unto them. Team JNPR was okay with the mercenaries, easily forgiving them since this fight was for nothing anyway, even though they kind of admitted to doing those crimes. Nora in particular was keen on waving Demoman goodbye. As for Team RWBY, all of them except Yang and Blake were incredibly PISSED at the mercenaries. Yang was still sleeping from all the sedatives Medic injected into her, and Blake was focusing on trying to figure them out instead of being mad at them.

She took a cute angry bite out of the chocolate bar and took it out of her mouth, swallowing the rage chunk before speaking. "This isn't the last you will hear of me! I, Ruby Rose, will get my revenge on you jerks!" Yelled Rubes at the leaving mercenaries, who ignored her. "DO YOU HEAR ME!? YOU'LL PAY FOR MAKING US LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE!"

"What? Ruby, is that what this is really about?" Jaune asked in disbelief at how Ruby could stoop so low. The rest of Team JNPR also were not very impressed with what is undeniably Ruby's main motivation for this. Ruby's reaction did not help her case. Her face blushed straight red and she started internally yelling when she realized her mistake.

"U-uh, no! I just really want to capture them because they're baddies!" She stuttered out.

"But you just told them they're not baddies." Nora pointed out. "Those guys are actually really nice."

"I said they're not **_bad_** bad guys! They're still criminals who beat us up!"

"But wasn't that because you attacked them first?" Pyrrha asked. Ruby shut up after that. There was not a lot she could say about that other than they were criminals, but Team JNPR wasn't gonna fall for that again. She looked to Weiss for any sort of help in this since she knew the heiress didn't like them either, but to her dismay, Weiss kept quiet. Seeing that Weiss was gonna be of no help here, she then turned to Blake who had also been quiet this whole time.

" _Blake! Help me out here!"_ She whispered, even though Team JNPR could hear everything she was saying.

"No Ruby, they're right." Said Blake, stoically staring back at the team leader who felt completely betrayed. "Maybe we should try talking to them instead of fighting them next Time."

" _Nooooooo_! That's exactly what they want you to do!" Ruby whined. Nora then came forward and gave Ruby a little bop on the head for being silly. "Owie..."

"No. Bad Ruby." The redhead said to her, shaking her head. "So what if you're a little mad they kicked your butts? At least they didn't seriously hurt you guys, or worse... Ruby, I say you stop being so grumpy and say you're sorry to them."

"I also think you should apologize to them." Pyrrha said. Ruby looked on in utter horror as the whole of Team JNPR was against her now. So much for them helping with her mercenary problem. "Perhaps they really are innocent and your team jumped to conclusions too soon."

"But they pretty much admitted they did the things they did!" Weiss said, finally joining in.

"Yeah, but they also sounded really honest about what actually happened." Blake countered. The heiress and Ruby both glared at Blake, mentally hissing _'traitor'_ in their minds at her. Blake didn't need to hear it to know that's what they were thinking, but she seriously glared back at them. "I know it's a little too crazy to be true, but I have a weird feeling that they really are innocent."

"Are you forgetting that they did attack the police? They took out almost every single police car the VPD has!" The heiress countered back with a vengeance.

"Well... I can't say they're wrong about the police not being the most understanding of people..." She said softly, thinking back to stories she's heard of innocent people getting caught by the police because of misunderstandings. A lot of those people were eventually let go, but some don't get such a happy ending. "I guess it was a little extreme for them to attack the police to get their cars back, but maybe we can convince them to turn themselves in? With out help, we could clear their names so they wouldn't have to be criminals anymore. Maybe we can even get the headmaster to help us out."

"Oh, so _now_ you want to catch them?" The heiress sassed. Blake did not appreciate this one bit, but she sucked it up enough to keep on going. Team JNPR stood by, not wanting to interrupt on these two arguing since Weiss was known to go absolutely wild in people's faces when she's really mad.

"At least not how we tried to the last couple of times. Look where that got us..." The kitty said. As much as Weiss didn't want to, she did understand what Blake was saying. All of them are still feeling sore from fighting the mercenaries who were out of sight by now. "For an heiress of the world's largest producer of dust, I don't think you're setting a good example chasing after people for no reason other than you're mad at them."

"What!? I-no, that's not- _ughh..._ " She groaned in defeat, saying nothing else.

"Look guys, why don't we go back to the city and get some ice cream or something?" Jaune suggested, standing in between the members of Team RWBY so they couldn't argue any further. "Ruby can say sorry to them next time we see them."

"WHAT!? NO! I AM NOT GOING TO- **AH**!" Ruby got bopped on the head again by Nora, because she was being silly once more. I say silly because it's really hard to take Ruby seriously when she's mad. She just comes off as adorably frustrated with her constant blush and weak attempts to make herself sound threatening. As in threateningly cute.

She was going to whine about getting bopped again, but Nora quietly threatened her with a raised fist and a grinning face. Ruby backed down, and they dragged themselves back to the hustle and bustle of the festive city after that. Or rather they dragged Yang since she was still knocked out, sleeping peacefully like a baby.

* * *

 **Later, City Of Vale, Just After Dusk**

I'm gonna cut the shit and say that the boys had pretty much a straight up party. There's not much else to say on the whole party bit other than what you're going to read next. The moment they got home, they threw down all their shit and went to work on cooking it up for a grand old feast. The mercenaries are tough, that's for sure. They could take bullets, grenades, swords, axes, blades, various blunt instruments, fucking rockets, fucking headshots, goddamn magic, and even motherfucking death can't stop them (depends). However, despite their ridiculous record of combat, they are still (mostly) normal Humans. And as such, they need to eat like everyone else. Which is something they oh so gladly did.

Once they had filled their starving bodies up with some good ass food, they went down to fortifying their base with the barbwire and wood they got. They also got themselves more settled into the place, cleaning out even more so they could at least lay down on the floor to sleep instead of getting crammed into their vehicles. This further cleanup of the base was also how they discovered there apparently was a sewer entrance into this factory as well, located behind a heavy reinforced door that marked it as such. This place was located in the lower levels of the factory where maintenance and power rooms were, and there were signs posted that said "DANGER: GRIMM, KEEP SEALED AT ALL TIMES". Now the mercenaries didn't know what Grimm were, so they put power into the door and opened it up... to find that there was rubble sealing the entrance anyway.

That was a mystery they were going to have to figure out later, but for now they finished up making their base a slightly more tolerable place to live. Okay, now this is where they ran into their second problem for today. They got their food and a refrigerator to keep it fresh, but now what? What are they supposed to do now? Camp at the factory all day? Boredom was setting in quickly, and since there was nothing to do, the mercs decided they might as well head back into the city to see if there was anything they could do. Hopefully finding themselves some work.

The only one who stayed at the base was Engineer. Engineer stayed behind so he could tinker with the Teleporter so they could get home. This world wasn't that bad so far, but you know the mercs don't belong here. One can argue that they don't really belong on Earth either since nobody likes them there, but that's not true because they do have people who care for them. Plus Earth was their home. Everything they know and understand is back on Earth, and now they're not there anymore...

Which is actually all the more reason to find a job.

Which they also had no luck in finding whatsoever.

The streets of the city were still filled with people going about celebrating the Vytal Festival. People from all over Remnant coming to Vale so that everyone may celebrate the peace together. Again, something the mercs didn't really know or necessarily cared about. They did however appreciate the positive atmosphere at least. All these happy people with their balloons and games and stuff were a nice change of scenery compared to the misery that was the last few weeks back on Earth. Gray Mann causing them trouble and shit...

Anyways, the police still had no idea who they were so that's also a plus.

It was getting late out on this side of Remnant, and the boys were still out exploring the city.

"Hey fellas, you know what would get make our hideout feel like a real home? A freakin' sweet TV!" Scout suggested.

"Aye, I agree with the lad. A TV ought to make our sorry hole more homely." Demoman agreed.

"We can get one when we return to base..." Spy trailed, for he was instead focused on something else.

His attention was on the strange animal people who live in this world alongside regular Humans. Based on quietly listening to people's conversations, he learned that they were called Faunus, and other than their animal features, they were regular people. Currently, he was looking at a young rabbit woman performing an exotic cultural dance from Mistral. It reminded him of a Japanese thing back when the gang stayed in Japan for a couple weeks during the Gravel War. You players will recognize this as the map based on the shrine to Suijin, the Japanese god of water, but there were so many more battles in Japan other than Suijin. The boys had fought all over the damn world back in the Gravel War, and then the later Robot War.

Back to the current time, the mercs had absolutely no luck in finding any kind of job. Their luck with job finding was so low, that they couldn't even get hired at a simple small business store. Even when they said that they were trained professional mercenaries out in the open, no one hired them. Probably due to a combination of nobody believing they actually were mercenaries, and everyone wanting to focus more on the good times of the festival instead. Having no luck with this, the guys decided to just buy some more stuff to make their place feel more like a real home, and fortress. More barb wire, bags of cement, more wood, some tables, desks, a couch, and a TV among other things were bought.

Unfortunately, they did not think out how much of a burden it was to be carrying all these things. Even with their toughness, it would suck to have to carry all this shit all the way back to their hideout and not look suspicious at that. So they camped in an alley tucked away between two buildings close to the hardware store they just came out of. It was also conveniently next to the supermarket the mercs bought their food at earlier. This side of the city was still busy with festivities, and as a result there were people everywhere out at this time still.

"Engineer, this is Spy." The Frenchman said through the team radio. "We need you to come to our location with the Teleporter."

"You boys got into trouble already?" The Texan's voice came through.

"Mro. Mpghr mhpm phmh!" Pyro said.

"Ah, I see. Damn it, fellas..." The Texan laughed.

"Oui, now we are in an alleyway not too far away from the supermarket we went to earlier. "

"Alright, I'm coming fellas." Engie said before he cut his connection.

And so the mercs waited for their fellow merc to come to them, nothing else in the alley except for darkness and the sounds of people walking around on the streets closeby. The alley was quite large and it was kind of like a small maze, so nobody could see them unless they came inside it. Some people actually did come into the alley, mostly young couples looking for a place to makeout or whatever. They all went away when they saw the mercenaries though, not liking how this group of guys were hanging out in a place where they could easily rob unsuspecting people. Of course, the mercs wouldn't do that. Only driving them away until Engineer got here. Maybe they should go to a spot with less people, but that would mean easily getting lost since the city's layout was still confusing for them. They'll relocate whenever Engie arrives.

"Oi, lads. Look who it is!" Sniper said to them. The other mercenaries half-expected it to be those pesky kids again, but no. This time, it was that same girl who Soldier fought when they first arrived in this world. Neo walked her petite little body slowly down the alley towards the mercs, smiling with her eyes closed as if this was just a casual stroll.

"Who's that?" Soldier asked. A collective facepalm was had by everyone else at Soldier's stupidity, already forgetting the girl he hated so much and shit. Like, it was no secret that Soldier is stupid, but this was one of those few times Soldier went full retard. You never go full retard...

"You're a freaking moron Soldier... but look who it is!" Scout grinned. "Hey there, short stuff! Where're your stupid friends at? They too scared to get their asses kicked again?" The Bostonian taunted, but Neo had no reaction other than to grin herself. She was completely silent no matter what the mercs said to her, which was a teeny tiny bit unsettling. Even though it came off as cheesy, this felt kinda like a horror movie setup. The team once saw a movie about a creepy silent girl who likes to meet people in dark alleys so she could take them to Hell. Then again, that movie ended with her head getting blown off with a Shotgun. "...what's the matter, you freaking stupid? Say something, you dope!"

"I do not know what you want, but you will leave or else we kill you like the others." Heavy threatened, pulling out a Shotgun to emphasize his point. Stll, Neo had no reaction but to stand there and grin.

"...I am now going to hurt you." The Russian frowned, approaching Neo. He out his Shotgun away since he didn't actually want to kill her, but I tell you what, he is 100% going to beat her so hard that she can't possibly feel her body for the next week. The others stood back and grinned as well, eager to watch Heavy beat the shit out of her. All except Spy, who sensed something was wrong. It was very suspicious of this girl to be standing out here facing them alone.

" _Be alert, gentlemen. I sense that this may be a trap..._ " He whispered to the others.

If only he had told them sooner...

Out of nowhere, several small objects were thrown at their position, and Neo backflipped away to safety. These small objects were soon revealed to be stun grenades, and the alley was quickly filled with short flashes of light that blinded the mercenaries. Less than a second after the mercs were stunned, thousands upon thousands of tranquilizer needles rained onto the mercs and stuck into them like porcupine quills, even making them look like pin cushions as they kept pouring on. The attack was so quick and sudden, that none of the mercs were able to so much as pull a single weapon out. The only one who could manage to do anything was Spy who reached for his Dead Ringer should the worst happen. He stuck his hand into his coat and grabbed onto the watch, only to feel something hard at his back. The sheer amount of tranquilizers had already numbed his body up to the point where he couldn't feel anything, but he knew exactly what happened to him.

Neo had stabbed him in the back with the pointy bit of her umbrella, a killer's smile across the deceivingly cute girl's face at the murder she committed. The girl thought he was successfully put his hand onto a hidden gun or something, and so what else to do than give him a poke for being a bad man.

"Oh my... was that really necessary, Neo?" Roman Torchwick asked as he and several members of the White Fang dressed in civilian clothing approached the knocked out mercs. The master criminal didn't sound all that concerned, likely because he also wanted to kill the mercs had he not have a job to capture them. Neo responded with a shrug and an innocent grin, flicking the blood off of her blade as she did so. "Welp, looks like Cinder will have to do with just these guys."

With the mercs down, the White Fang busted open a manhole in the alley and threw the sleeping mercs down there so that they could be moved without anyone noticing. Spy's body was left right where it was. The Fang didn't need to worry about yet another murder on their heads, if Spy's murder could be tracked down to them at all.


	7. Chapter 7

**MiR V2 Chp. 7 A0**

* * *

 **Streets of Vale** , **Nighttime**

The White Fang had just escaped through the sewers with the captured mercenaries, leaving Spy's body behind. Or rather the fake body created by the Dead Ringer, and Spy himself. Thanks to the supernatural abilities of the Dead Ringer, Spy was able to both avoid getting killed and falling asleep from the tranquilizer storm. Nobody is quite sure how the watch works, but the one thing that is sure about it that any serious damage taken by the user will make a fake corpse and cause the user to go invisible. I'm not talking damage like stubbing your toe, I mean like anything from getting punched to getting fucking blown up. It also has the added benefit of all negative effects being transferred onto the fake corpse, which is why Spy's not falling asleep after getting pricked the fuck up with tranquilizers. And a side note, even though the corpse is fake, it's fake in the sense that it's not the actual body of the person who supposedly died. It still has flesh and blood like a real body, but it's not the actual person themself.

Spy had ran behind a corner after Neo stabbed him in the back, using his invisibility to remain out of sight. It irritated him to see that his team had been ambushed and taken down so easily by some shitty terrorist group or whatever the White Fang called themselves, but there was too many of him to deal with alone, at least in this situation. Before his invisibility ran out, he made sure to quietly stuff a tracking device disguised as a lighter in Scout's pockets so he could track where the Fang were going with his team. It took the Fang only three minutes for them to completely clear the alley, leaving Spy free to uncloak.

"This night just got far more interesting..." He said to himself, taking a cigarette from his case. "Even in a different world, violence and stupidity follow us. Humph, then again, I suppose my team is capable of nothing else than just that. Violence, and stupidity..."

With a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, he continued to wait in the alley for Engineer. The Texan was already on his way over here, so there wasn't much of a point to changing his location. While he was waiting for Engineer, he remembered that his fake corpse was still in the alley. It would cause some unnecessary trouble if anyone found that body, and so he walked up to it to make it fade away with the Dead Ringer. That's another thing the watch can do, even if it's not used very often.

Thirty minutes into waiting for Engineer, his senses caught onto something entering his presence, and he turned to see what it was. Naturally, his senses were on high alert after what had just happened to him, and so he reached into his coat pocket for his Revolver. He eased up when he found out what it was. The alleyway was completely dark, or at least in the corner where he stood. There was no light from the stars above since the city's artificial lighting drowned them out, and the moon's light was blocked all the same. The only light that came in was from the exits of the alley where streetlights crept about halfway before fading out, not shining into the tucked away part of the alley where Spy and his stuff was since that's now how light physics fucking work. It all mattered little to Spy though, for all his senses were on point.

"Oh, it's just you." He said calmly, looking at a Faunus girl through the dim dark.

Blake blinked and froze in place when Spy suddenly spoke to her, surprised that she had been spotted already. She was sure that she didn't make a single sound when she approached him, even keeping close to the shadows to avoid early detection. Well, trying to hide may have been unnecessary anyway since she wasn't here to fight him. Only to talk.

"Uh... hey."

"Good evening. Where are your friends? Hiding in the gutter to shoot me with tranquilizers?" He asked in a somewhat calm yet irritated tone.

"Um... no. They're down the street, and what? That's oddly specific..." Blake said as she walked to him, a little unnerved that he saw her through the dark so easily. A Faunus could see through this dim light no problem, but your average Human would need to take a minute to make out anything in this kind of lighting.

"Humph, don't worry about it. Now what do you want?"

"I want to know why you attacked the White Fang." She asked simply, but seriously. Cutting right to the chase.

"I already answered that question." He puffed from his cigarette. "It was an accident. No matter how ridiculous that may sound."

"But that is ridiculous! There's no way that could have been an accident."

"That is the truth. It is completely up to you if you want to believe it or not." Spy shrugged, giving her a stare in the dark. "I suppose you have more questions to ask. Well, go ahead and ask away. I've got time to kill." That's not the only thing he's got to kill, but anyways, Blake stood straight in an attempt to make her have some more authority. She felt like Spy wasn't taking her seriously with that stupid answer, but at least she looked Hell of a lot more intimidating than Ruby. That's not saying a lot though, as Ruby is about as intimidating as a teddy bear... to the mercs at least.

"Who are you guys? And Where are you from? Are you a team of rogue huntsmen?" She asked. Blake was at least happy that he was willing to listen, but that did not guarantee if his answers were believable or not.

"Team Fortress." He said before taking a drag on his cigarette. "We are from Earth, and we are a team of mercenaries like I said earlier." All truthful answers. There was no reason to lie to her since she wasn't going to know what any of these were and it didn't matter if she told anyone since they wouldn't believe her. Like how she kind of wasn't believing it herself right now.

"So you guys are ex-huntsmen turned mercenaries?"

"No. We are a team of mercenaries called Team Fortress. None of us are huntsmen or whatever that's supposed to mean in this world." He answered truthfully. The girl raised a brow at what he said about huntsmen. Now he was acting like they never heard of huntsmen before.

"I never heard of Earth before." She said, changing the subject since it didn't look like he was gonna give much else on who they were.

"And it's unlikely that anyone else in this world has either." He said.

"Why do you keep saying _'this world'_? You guys act like you're from another world or something." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Spy's eyes also narrowed on her, but because she was beginning to annoy him just a little bit with how she wasn't getting the message. Then again, he guessed he couldn't really blame her though, but it still annoyed him.

"That's because we are." He shrugged, throwing his spent cigarette away. "Now are we done here? I am already beginning to have second thoughts about having you as company."

Blake glared at him for what she felt was uncooperativeness and slight hostility, but she cooled down. No point in raising tensions when this man has already proved that they are not hostile to Team RWBY. She was here for answers, not violence. No need to revert back to how the current White Fang does things compared to how they did before...

"...where are your teammates? And what is all this stuff you have?" She decided to go easier on the questions if that would help things. It was also because she was legitimately curious and suspicious of the other missing eight mercenaries, and all the furniture/building material he had around him.

"My teammates? Most of them are fast asleep at the moment. And all these things you see here? These are for our home. Engineer is coming here now to pick me up." Technically, he's **_not_ **lying. Oh, sly old Spy. Cunning as usual...

Blake didn't know what else to ask now that he said that. She still thought it was suspicious how it was just him with all this stuff, implying that he bought all this junk and carried it over here himself which she thought was very unlikely. However, she decided to lay off on that. Not having much more to ask, she decided to go even easier on the questions. Since they were relatively friendly, maybe she could get him to spill the beans if they developed some basic trust and understanding.

"Okay... well, what's your name mister?" She asked politely. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask before, but it was just that things got... violent, whenever we met. Ruby told us what your big friend's name was already."

"My name? Humph, only those I trust know my name, Blake. All you need to is that I am known as The Spy, or just Spy for short."

"H-huh? How did you know-"

"Your name? I heard it being yelled around here and there by your friends whenever our teams met." Said the Frenchman as he reached for yet another cigarette in his case.

"I guess that makes sense..." She took a moment to compose herself after getting caught off guard by Spy knowing her name. "I am Blake Belladonna. A student at Beacon Academy and member of Team RWBY."

"A pleasure to meet you, Blake." The Frenchman let out a soft and welcoming smile, holding his hand for her to shake. Blake was pleased with this, and so she gladly shook his hand. At least some form of trust has been made.

" **BLAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKE!** " Ruby's shrill voice boomed into the alleyway, making both Blake and Spy look at four approaching shadows coming down the light that did shine into the alley, growing bigger and bigger like shadowy monsters. Team RWBY was looking for the B in their name.

Blake had temporarily left her team when she said she was going to check out a bookstore that was still open around this time. That's actually the real reason she was even in this alley to begin with. It was a just a shortcut between streets, and then she just so happened to run into Spy when the brief light made by his cigarette illuminated his face for a second and alerted her to who he. Just her luck, right?

"Are you sure she went down this way?" They heard Yang's voice come from the approaching shadows.

"Yes, I'm sure. I saw her come down this way." Weiss answered.

Blake's eyes widened as she was worried about what would happen if her team saw Spy. No doubt they would try to wreck his shit no matter what Team JNPR told them. As such she wasn't sure if she should let him hide or keep him here and hope that her team would be reasonable. Doubt started crushing her hope on that though, and so she hastily turned to Spy to tell him to hide when she saw that he wasn't there anymore. Totally vanished as if he was never there. Blinking in disbelief, she shook her head and darted her eyes around everywhere to see where he could have possibly gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Ugh, this place is so dark! Why does Blake always have to take the places with the least light in them?" Weiss whined, getting Blake's attention back onto her team. They couldn't see in the dark as well as she could, and as such they didn't notice her yet even though they were rapidly approaching.

"Maybe it's because she's a kitty cat!" Yang smiled.

Blake frowned a little at Yang's blatant teasing even though she didn't know she was here. She took a glance back to where Spy once stood, and back at her team, letting out a sigh.

"Hey guys."

"Oh! There you are, Blake! We didn't see you there." Said the cute little leader of the team. "What took you so long?"

"I had to walk through a bunch of crowds on the way back. This is kinda why I choose to walk through these kinds of places..." She said, giving Weiss a glare even if she couldn't really see it. "It turns out the bookstore was closed for the festival." If it wasn't obvious, Blake was lying to her teammates. No shit, but it was because she knew that her teammates would most likely get 100% salty if she told them that she ran into one of the mercenaries and did not attempt to apprehend him. They were feeling good about themselves after spending the rest of their day enjoying the festival, even though they got their asses beaten earlier today. Understandably, Blake didn't want to ruin their mood for the night.

"That sucks... but look on the bright side! We're gonna stop by a noodle place soon, and Team JNPR's paying!" She cheered happily.

"There's also gonna be a night parade later. We're going to see it before we go back to the school. Unless you want to go back to Beacon before it gets too late, do you?" Asked the heiress.

"No, a parade sounds lovely." Blake smiled.

Team RWBY left the alley soon after that, leaving Spy free to uncloak. Little did Blake know, Spy actually never left at all. Of course to you readers who know your basic TF2 stuff, you'd already known that. He watched the girls leave, finally lighting onto the new cigarette he grabbed when Blake was speaking with him.

Spy couldn't help but shake his head at them. Not because he was disappointed in them like he was in all those other times, but because they truly were just kids. Team RWBY was just a group of four silly high school age girls as far as he could tell. Though he still didn't know why this world allows young girls like them to hold dangerous and ridiculous weapons around like it's something that is totally normal. He's sure that it actually was normal in this world, but whatever the reason was is something that he'd have to find out later. It's a shame that a big misunderstanding got them to be so hostile to his team.

It would take another hour and a half until Engie arrived since he had to walk all the way from their base to here, and then figure out which alley they were in. Spy didn't mind all that much though. He was sure the gang could hold out more than long enough for him and Engie to come get them. No need to panic in a situation he was sure wouldn't be too hard to resolve.

"Howdy Jacques, where're the rest of the fellas at?" Engineer asked, wondering why it was just Spy alone with the stuff they bought.

"We got ambushed by that same group who tried to kill us yesterday. I believe those kids said they were called the 'White Fang'." Spy answered calmly.

"Really? How long ago?" Engineer asked, sounding just a little more concerned than Spy was.

"A little after we contacted you..." He sighed, literally flicking away the fifteenth cigarette he had in his wait for Engie. "Right then, place the Teleporter down in that corner so that nobody could see us."

"Yeah, yeah, we already agreed on this, partner. Keep the Teleporter a secret so we got a hidden advantage and all that. I get it. Teleporter goin' up." Engie set the toolbox containing a pre-built Teleporter, and soon the device started to unfold and make whirring sounds. Once it was done building, both Spy and Engie took the time to move in all the shit they bought into the Teleporter. No point in leaving it out here for anyone else to take for free. They paid for that shit!

 **...**

Okay, so Engie and Spy dragged their bought shit to base and huddled it to a corner so they could sort it out later. Now the two of them were gearing up to go out and save their pals. Tracking them down wasn't going to be too difficult since Spy had the tracking device tuned with his watch, but the real challenge lay in whatever they were facing once they found them. Engineer loaded himself out with his Shotgun, his Pistol, and his trustee Wrench, just the basics. Spy went for a classic loadout as well, but he was keeping the Dead Ringer along with his Invis-Watch.

Any weapons they didn't want were left in their backpacks laid alongside the rest of the mercenaries' backpacks.

They headed out as soon as they were ready. Spy's watch had a blinking red arrow that pointed him towards the direction of the tracking device, and they spent the next hour of walking from the base to the city following it. The watch had no map on it since Spy hasn't been able to find a map of the city to sync into his watch, but the red arrow still pointed regardless of there being a map or not. Nothing much happened on the way over. People were still in the streets partying up for the festival, and the cops and squads of Atlesian soldiers keeping watch still didn't know who they were.

* * *

 **White Fang Hideout, Commercial District**

The seven captured members of Team Fortress had been taken to a hideout in the commercial district instead of their main secret base in the harbor. This time around the hideout was in an abandoned apartment complex in a less than nice area of the city, built on top of a hill where the street sloped down into towards the center of the city like this was San Francisco. Cinder told Roman that she did not want them at the main hideout and wanted to meet them here instead for whatever reason. Roman never could understand how Cinder thinks, but he was in no position to question her for obvious reasons. He had the Fang tie the mercenaries up from head to toe, took their pouches and other shit, until they had nothing on them except their regular wear. Like Heavy and Demo both had their ballistic vests removed and Soldier and Pyro had their grenades taken off them. This also meant that they discovered the tracking device in Scout's pockets, but thankfully they fell for Spy's trick and thought it was just a lighter.

The mercs were then stuffed into a single cramped supply closet in the basement with no supplies in it like a pack of Human sardines. Except they were more like angry bull sharks then sardines...

What Roman or anyone else under his command didn't expect was for them to wake up so soon. With all the tranquilizers they shot into them, they should've been out until at least tomorrow morning, but no. Only three hours had passed after they were ambushed and now they were all fully awake. Of course the only reason why they knew that was because all of the mercenaries started screaming and yelling all at once from behind the supply closet, as well as extremely loud and obnoxious banging against the walls and door. It's kinda hard to not notice seven guys screaming at the same time from the basement.

Cinder herself was surprised to hear that they had woken up so soon. She didn't intend on meeting them tonight since she thought they would still be asleep, but this came off as a pleasant surprise for her. Happy to hear the news, she simply said that she was coming and did not specify an exact time. There was some things in Beacon that she needed to tend to that she also didn't specify, but again no one was going to question her. They guessed that her coming here now was better than having her come tomorrow night instead after classes at Beacon, which meant they could get rid of these guys sooner.

And so the Fang dutifully kept guard around their hideout, even if the constant screams of the mercenaries were making them go crazy. Especially for the guards tasked with standing **directly outside the supply closet to make sure they didn't bust out**. That door was the only possible way for them to escape as any vents in the supply closet were far too small for any of them to escape through, and Roman wanted to make extra sure that they weren't going to break out.

Roman was trying to relax up in his personal quarters with Neo, but even up in his relatively nice room was the mercs screaming making him irritated. It's almost as if the mercs were purposefully screaming into the vents just to piss off everyone inside the hideout, and it was definitely working if that was what they intended. It took only five minutes of no relaxation for Roman to decide to head out of the building and take a walk to clear his headache. Neo followed him as she always does, glad to get out of that building. Cinder never said that Roman had to be here when she arrived, and so he decided to take Neo out for a night stroll into the city. Maybe he'd buy her ice cream or something. Just anything to get rid of the headache the mercs' gave them.

Now that the Humans leading them were gone, the Fang decided to do something about their guests...

 **...**

"I AM YELLING INTO YOUR STUPID VENT! DO YOU FREAKING HEAR ME!?" Screamed the Scout.

"I AM ALSO SCREAMING IN YOUR VENT, BUT IN THE OTHER ONE!" Screamed Soldier.

"Mphmh mphm." Pyro shrugged.

Yeah... so they are doing exactly what it sounded like they were doing. Go figure. Now this probably doesn't need to be said, but the boys are super fucking pissed off about getting captured like this. They were tied up in so much rope that they were like caterpillars if caterpillars were crammed together like sausages in a bag, and the Fang had also taken their personal inventories away. Though the Fang didn't actually know that the little packs and pouches were where they pulled their weapons seemingly out of nowhere, it still meant the mercs were completely without anything to help themselves with. Well, they were too tied up to grab anything anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered much.

"I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR SODDING HEADS OFF AND PISS DOWN YOUR BLOODY CAKEHOLES!" The Australian of the group screamed. The rest of this is pretty much the mercs screaming their insults toward the Fang.

"IT'S GOING TO TAKE MORE THAN BLOODY GLUE TO FIX YOU AFTER I'M DONE WITH YE!"

"HEAVY IS GOING TO CRUSH BABIES UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

"YOU'RE ALL DEAD! GOTT WIRD IHN NICHT SPAREN!"

Their screaming temporarily stopped when the door to the supply closet opened. On the other side were the guards tasked with watching over the mercenaries, all of them looking extremely pissed and such at the mercenaries constant yelling. Noticeably, they were carrying various blunt instruments. No doubt with the intent to have a strenuous discussion with our boys on the finer points of how a blunt object can cause pain. _Severe_ pain...

Something the mercs are pretty well versed in already, and in more ways than one as the Fang were about to find out...

 **...**

It took an hour of walking all the way from their own hideout to the enemy's hideout. All the people crowding the streets for the festival didn't help matters much, but now they were here and that's what matters in the end.

"There. This is the place." Spy said to Engie.

The red arrow suddenly became a red dot, meaning that Scout was very close by. Currently, they were facing a very shitty rundown apartment building in an empty area of town. This area of the city didn't look like it had too many people living here, and anyone who did was probably down at the center of the city where the majority of Vytal festival festivities were taking place. A pretty ideal place for a hideout all things considered. It was soon proven that this was where the others were kept when Spy and Engie witnessed Roman Torchwick and Neo walk out of the building.

"Definitely the place alright..." Whistled his partner as they watched the two of them head to the center of the city. "Alrighty then, we gonna go in guns blazin' or are we gonna do this all quiet like?"

"Since this is a mission to save our teammates, it will be impossible to do this quietly. However, that does not mean we can at least have some degree of stealth..." Hummed Spy as he thought of how they were gonna do this.

"Hmm... so we break in quietly, free the boys, and then raise Hell?" Suggested the Texan with his characteristic grin.

"You read my mind, mon ami..." Spy smiled.

"Heh, don't I know it..." Engineer knew Spy better than anyone else except for Sniper. Mostly because back in the day Engineer and Sniper were some of Spy's main targets, and as such they've gotten to understand how he thinks really well.

"Oui, but we must make this quick. Those soldiers and their robots are no doubt on high alert for another attack like this."

And so they commenced their two man operation to free their comrades. Engineer was understandably nowhere near as stealthy as Spy, and so he stuck close to the Frenchman as they quietly circled around the back of the building for any potential entrance. There was none. This place had all of its windows boarded up and all its doors locked. Even when they did a second run around the place, there still weren't anywhere they could quietly get in without creating some kind of racket. Considering how the White Fang consisted of Faunus and their animal features may have gave them some hearing advantage, making so much as a creak may tip one of them off.

"Merde... I suppose we could try the roof then." Spy sighed, looking up the building. The two of them stood on the street where they faced the front doors directly.

"You mean _you_ could try the roof. Sorry partner, but I don't think I'll be climbing up no damn buildings. Not tonight." Said Engineer.

"Come now, Dell. You're perfectly capable of scaling a building like this. We've done it before, and we've done much worse..." Said Spy, who wasn't kidding about that part. The mercs have climbed anything from trees, mountains, buildings, and even fucking alien spaceships.

"Yeah, well I ain't feeling the mood to be climbing things today." He shrugged, before pumping his Shotgun. "I'm ready to kick some tail. How about you?"

"Ugh... fine. We'll do this loud. At least wait for me to climb the roof first so we may attack from two-"

 ***SUDDEN DOOR OPENING! (so sudden!)***

"Who's out here!?" A White Fang grunt asked as he flung the door open, aiming a dust SMG of some sort outside. This guy heard Engie pumping his Shotgun, and his first reaction was to go outside and aim his gun down whoever dared to face the White Fang. He appeared to be a lizard or something, but it didn't matter what the fuck he was when Engineer pumped a shell right into his chest, dropping him dead.

Things have instantly gone loud, and Spy and Engie knew it the moment the Texan dropped the grunt. The clock was ticking, and now the two mercs burst right into the front door to commence a swift attack as if this was Hotline Miami up this bitch. And Hotline Miami it truly was, except Team Fortress style.

The White Fang inside the hideout were totally caught off guard by the two mercenaries who angrily burst through their front door with the intent to slaughter the shit out of them. There wasn't as many of them in this hideout compared to the last one since there was a rally going on last time, but there was still quite a few of them for just Spy and Engineer to face. Still, they could manage.

This wasn't even what Engineer's intended role in combat was, yet the cowboy was still going in strong with his Shotgun blasting grunts left and right. One grunt who managed to get his hands on an axe came at Engie with an overhead chop, which the Texan man responded by rushing him quick enough for the axe to not hit his head and then jamming the Shotgun against the grunt's head. The grunt didn't even have time to blink before Engie blew his head to pieces. This was the last shell in his Shotgun, and so Engie pulled out his pistol since there wasn't time to reload.

Spy was much swifter than Engineer was in his attack. He didn't have the raw power of a Shotgun like he did, but he did have speed and skill. Less than five seconds of entering the building had Spy dropped six White Fang members with six rounds from his Revolver and continued to engage the rest with his Butterfly Knife and CQC skills. He dropkicked the shit out of a wolfgirl, slit the throat of another grunt, and backstabbed three more in the span of only one minute.

A thing that both Engineer and Spy noted was that people in this world are strangely resistant to damage. All the mercs noticed it when they fought Teams RWBY And JNPR and saw how resilient they were compared to 'normal' teenagers back on Earth, and they noticed that even these White Fang plebs have a little resistance against their attacks. A LITTLE. Their weak auras did little against the gunpowder and force of Spy and Engie. The raw power produced by the gunpowder based guns was more than enough to shatter their auras in a single hit, and all it took was just a little more force than usual from Spy's melee swings to pierce straight into the flesh.

The Fang were panicking to Hell with how quick and violent this attack was. Spy and Engie were so aggressive that almost no one had time to so much as pick up a weapon to fight back. Those that did pick up a weapon weren't able to do much before they were put down by the attacking mercenaries. In almost no time at all, there were no more White Fang in sight. At least in the main hub and immediate hallways, as there was nothing but dead/dying bodies and boxes full of supplies and dust. There were no doubt other White Fang in the building, but Spy and Engineer weren't here to hunt them down like rats.

"You. Tell us where you have taken our teammates." Spy asked an extremely traumatized rabbit grunt. She was very scared. So scared that she didn't even realize she was being spoken to before Spy slapped the fuck out of her. "Where are your prisoners?"

"I-i-i-in t-th-t-the base-basement..." She stuttered fearfully, looking at Spy and Engie as if they were demons thirsty for blood. Ironically enough, there was no blood on either of them even though they just took down about twenty grunts by themselves.

"Merci." The Frenchman nodded.

They left her there instead of killing her. She's in a state of such fright that she might as well die of a heart attack. Spy forgot to ask her where the basement was, but that's fine. There was a map in the main lobby detailing the place anyway, and the door that led into the basement was in the garage. So both of them rushed to the garage with Engie covering the rear while Spy took point. Four grunts were shot down by Spy when they encountered them on the way, and Engie brought down an additional three who started shooting at them from behind.

Inside the garage was a lot of dust crates and weapons meant for an operation the Fang had been planning for months. Also, there was a gigantic shopping cart the size of a car in the garage. It appears that the Fang were souping it up to be some kind of grocery shopping themed parade float, but judging how there were bombs being hidden in the decorations that have been yet to be added to the cart, this had a very different purpose than other floats. Neither of them wasted any time worrying on it though, for they gathered up at the basement door.

"You go on ahead. I'll hold them here..." The Texan said, reloading his Shotgun to max capacity and pointing it down toward where they came. Voices of White Fang could be heard from all over the building now. They had just kicked open the hornet's nest, like they do all the time.

"Oui." Nodded Spy to Engie. Taking a second to collect himself, Spy took a couple of steps back, and then put all his power into a kick that will bash the door down in one move. Only that it didn't bash the door down because Scout opened it instead.

"Oh hey, it's Spy- **ARGH!** " Spy just accidentally kicked the living fuck out of his son, and in doing so unintentionally kicked him into the rest of Team Fortress back down the stairs. All seven of the formerly captured guys screamed out and cried in pain as they tumbled right back where they came from.

"What the Hell?" Spy said in surprise as he looked on to at the seven groaning and grumbling mercenaries at the bottom of the stairs. "How did you free yourselves?" Enginner also stopped shooting a moment to take a look down the stairs before he was quickly reminded that he was getting shot at.

At least he didn't need to waste time looking for them in the lower levels of the apartment. Also, it sounded like time was running out. All of a sudden, the gunfire stopped coming Team Fortress' way. Don't get it wrong, there was still gunfire, just not directed at them anymore. In fact, the Fang had bigger things to worry about than just the mercenaries.

"Uh, fellas? I think we may have a problem..." Engie trailed with worry in his tone.

Spy was right to think that the Atlesian military was on alert for any further disturbances. All around the building, the Fang were yelling and screaming to each other that Atlas was coming. At once they started burning all the intelligence they had and prepared to either fight or flee from the incoming Atlesians. Most of them chose to flee, but it was already too late. Two squads of Atlesian soldiers had already arrived in four Atlesian armored cars and were already engaging the White Fang. The Fang were shooting back from the cover of the building while the soldiers took cover behind their armored cars. The soldiers hadn't surrounded the building just yet, and so any White Fang that could were escaping out the back and through the shadows of the streets before more soldiers came. It wouldn't be long before the Atlesians started to slowly circle around the building while avoiding incoming fire from the Fang, limiting chances of escape.

"Dammit, there's no way them damn soldiers ain't gonna see the Teleporter if we use it."

"But is this not emergency enough?" Heavy asked, rubbing the back of his head after that rough tumble. The other six with him were in a similar state after Spy accidentally kicked them down the stairs. If they weren't in such a serious situation right now, they would have beat the fuck out of Spy by now.

"Good point. Stand back, fellas. I'm setting down the Teleporter. We're gonna need to hold them-"

"MPHM!" Pyro yelled from under its mask, totally cutting Engie off. "Mpggfm fmhp mphmum!" It pointed at something, something that all the mercs followed its finger to. What Pyro's finger led to was the large shopping cart meant to be a terrorist bomb for a later operation. Before anyone had said anything, the pyromaniac hopped right into the cart and eagerly awaited for someone to push it.

"Buddy, that is an **_AWESOME_** idea. Let's freaking do this!" Cheered Scout, before he hopped inside the cart alongside Pyro.

"Uh... well... the street outside does go downhill..." Thought Engie as held the toolbox containing the Teleporter. "Ah, to Hell with it. Come on boys! That cart's our ride out of here!" Said the Texan after putting the toolbox away. Engineer then hopped right into the cart as well, and soon the other mercs said fuck it and jumped in the cart as well. Not like there was any better ideas, even though there actually were if you want to be lame and boring.

"This is a horrible idea..." Groaned Spy who objected to this the most, grabbing onto the side of the cart since there wasn't anymore room inside it.

"Heavy thinks so as well..." The Russian sighed. He and Soldier were at the back of the cart and were ready to push them out of here. Demoman had to get out of the cart so he could place some bombs along the garage doors for their escape.

The plan was simple, as a lot of things Team Fortress does tends to be. Demoman was gonna blow the doors open, the boys were gonna pop smoke bombs all over the street outside to cover their escape, and then they were gonna push themselves downhill to freedom/painful crash. More Atlesians were arriving judging by the sound of more cars outside, and it only made it more urgent for the team to leave now.


	8. Chapter 8

**MiR V2 Chp. 8 A0**

* * *

The shootout at the White Fang hideout was getting rapidly out of hand as if it wasn't already. An additional two Atlesian armored cars had just arrived on the scene with another squad of soldiers to engage the White Fang. Though some of the Fang escaped, most of them were trapped in the building with nowhere to go now that the Atlesians were closing in around the building. They could either try to fight their way out of here, hold out and face an unwinnable siege by Atlas, or just plain surrender. As seconds ticked by, the first two options sounded less and less plausible for only more and more soldiers will come now that they know the Fang is here. Still, the Fang fought on against the Atlesians. If anything, they were going to hold out until they at least destroyed all evidence of their other hideouts in the city before surrendering.

While they were doing that, a squad of Atlesian soldiers were moving up to the garage to breach the building. One of the soldiers was in the process of grabbing a breaching charge to blow the garage doors down, but it turned out that was totally unnecessary. Someone else was kind enough to blow the door up for him, except from the opposite side! He didn't even lift the charge halfway up from the door when it got completely blown off its hinges and sent the entire squad flying across the street from the sheer force of the explosion. The other Atlesian squad covering them from across the street were caught off guard and aimed their weapons down at the sudden opening in case of attack, but then smoke bombs were thrown all over the street. In a matter of seconds the street had gone from the chaos of a firefight to near complete silence as smoke obscured everyone's vision. The Fang, the Atlesians, nobody could see a thing from wherever they were and so they stopped shooting for the moment. For the Fang, this was a welcome relief as it bought them more time to get rid of the evidence, but it was a pain for the Atlesians since it made their job of breaching the building even harder. than it already was. Figures that the one easy opening would give them so much trouble, but then for some reason, over the relative silence of the street, several voices of men can be heard yelling and what sounded like wheels skidding down the street.

Smoke covered everything so it was impossible for either the Fang or Atlas to tell who the screaming guys were, but Team Fortress has just left the area. Tossing out the bombs disguised as decorations as if they weren't dangerous explosives, Team Fortress enacted their escape plan. The only problem was a minor one with Spy, Soldier, and Heavy being forced to hang off from the sides since there was no space for every single one of them inside the cart itself, but it was all good in the end.

Roman and Neo had only reached the bottom of the hill when Spy and Engie started their raid on the Fang hideout. The sounds of gunfire quickly alerted them that some trouble was going down back from where they just left, and so they backtracked up the street to see what was going on. Only that they were now climbing uphill and it was considerably more difficult to move up this steep street then going down. They were only at about the halfway mark when the Atlesians rolled up in their armored cars and were now besieging the hideout. Not surprisingly, Roman and Neo ducked into a dark alleyway since he was a wanted man. Seeing that Atlas responded to the disturbance significantly faster than any of them expected, Roman was calling this a bust and was going to slip away quietly with Neo. Until they heard screaming coming from uphill, and it sounded like they were rapidly getting closer and closer.

 _"What in the_ world...?" Was all Roman could mutter out when he and Neo saw Team Fortress zoom by in a giant shopping cart. All of the mercenaries were crammed onto the cart with some of them hanging off the sides, screaming their heads off in either excited joy or utter terror. Neo and Roman could only watch with their mouths wide open as the team rolled by them on their dangerous journey downhill. "Did... did they just... steal the cart that was supposed to be filled with bombs to escape?" Asked the master criminal to no one in particular, still watching in disbelief as Team Fortress just reached the bottom of the hill and were heading down to the center of the city. His little partner merely nodded her head, eyes as wide as his were. "Oh dear... this is bad... Cinder's not going to like this..."

Right when he finished saying that, he got a call on his scroll. It took a moment for him to get over his initial shock, but once he fumbled out his scroll and saw who the caller was, his heart sunk. Though his face didn't show his fear, Roman always felt a sense of dread whenever he spoke to Cinder. Especially when it's over a job he's tasked with...

"Speak of the Devil..." Sighed Roman as he readied up to speak with her. "Cinder! I was just about to call you! Listen, I don't know when you're gonna get here, but you might as well turn back. Our guests fell asleep again!" He's pretty scared.

"I am across the street." The woman's sultry voice came over the scroll, making Roman and Neo's eyes go wider than freaking dinner plates. Roman didn't want to, he really didn't, but he forced himself to gaze across the street where he could see something in the shadow of an alley on the other side. All he saw were two flaming amber eyes burning in the darkness, and then Cinder stepped out into the moonlight.

"...right. Well... I can explain?" He smiled nervously to the woman across the street, unable to come up with any witty responses to keep his cool.

"Was that them?" She asked, turning her head downhill where the mercs were still rolling fast into the city.

"Uh, what?"

"Those men in that large cart. Were those the so called vigilantes?" Asked Cinder again, not sounding like she was angry or displeased in any way whatsoever. Which was something Roman was totally glad about since he really had no good excuse for letting this happen.

"Um... yes."

"Hmm..." She hummed, an interested little smile appearing. "Well, looks like that hideout is a lost cause. Roman, I want you and Neo to meet me at the main base later." And just like that, Cinder hung up and disappeared back into the shadows. Roman and Neo were still surprised with how calm Cinder appeared to be about this, but once again, nobody understands the ways in which that woman thinks. Since there wasn't much else to do now, the crime duo decided to simply leave the area. Maybe they can get some ice cream on the way over to the main hideout.

 **...**

"THIS IS FREAKIN' _SWEEEEEEEEEEEET_!" Hollered Scout as the very speed the mercs were travelling actually made his face wobble and flap around with all this wind hitting his face.

"THIS IS A HORRIBLE IDEA!" His unknown dad screamed.

To properly understand Team Fortress's current situation, these nine dudes were crammed into a car-sized shopping cart (that was supposed to be a parade float filled with bombs) and were now moving insanely fast down a steep hill that led into the center of the city. The first couple of moments weren't too bad since the area of the city they just left was pretty empty and it was a straight shot downhill, but that all changed when they got closer to the city center. Instead of speeding down a steep hill, they were now speeding level ground with their sheer momentum made sure that they weren't going to be slowing down to a stop anytime soon. People, cars, buildings, streetlights, anything Team Fortress passed whizzed right by in a blur that lasted less than a second.

The cars on the street were a rather big problem as the boys were actually travelling about three times as fast as what the city's speed limit was, which was only 25 mph or 40 kph for you metrics. This at least meant that the hapless people driving their cars could easily avoid the cart. What it did not change to much was their speed, which there was no way of slowing their cart down. They could at least kinda steer the cart by shifting their combined weight. At first they only had to dodge and evade cars on the straight street they were on, but soon they had to turn into different streets as they were rapidly approaching a t-junction.

"TO THE RIGHT!" Laughed Demoman in sheer joy from the adrenaline rush of this experience.

There wasn't many choices except left or right, so the boys did end up turning right as a result. Their situation didn't really change much after this move. If anything it made it worse (or better for some of them) because they were now in the city center with traffic and people everywhere. Didn't matter what street they turned on, it only seemed that they were facing even more people. The mercenaries didn't know it, but they were now in the very center of the city where the Vytal Festival celebrations were underway well into the night. As if this wasn't bad enough, there was a closed off boulevard they were coming up to what looked like a parade in progress.

 **...**

"There goes the float representing Haven Academy from the Kingdom of Mistral! Wow, would you look at the decorations on that thing, Lisa? It's very... well, Mistral like!" Cyril Ian of the VNN excitedly said over the bustle of the crowd enjoying the night parade, commenting on a very colorful Asian looking float. He and Lisa Lavender were sent out to do a live broadcast/commentary of sorts as the parade representing all walks of life from everywhere on Remnant was well underway. Currently, the parade had just began and it started off with floats from the four major huntsman academies first.

"That's right Cyril. The students from Haven have put hard work into making their float. I heard that they spent the last three months into working on it. A lot of time and research was put into making their float represent their academy as best as they can."

"Wow! Well their work sure paid off!"

"Yes it has, Cyril." Smiled Lisa before turning to face the camera directly to address the viewers at home. "The City of Vale is absolutely buzzing with activity tonight as the 40th Vytal Festival Parade has now officially began. As you just saw, the students of Haven academy have started off tonight's parade with their magnificient float, and the other academies' floats will be arriving shortly."

"Why, I have never seen Vale this alive since the last time a Vytal Festival was held here!"

"But... Cyril you know that was only six years ago, right?" Lisa asked.

"Well that must have been the longest six years of my life then!"

"...right. Anyways, as always with the Vytal Festival, the people of Remnant have all come together to celebrate the peace and harmony between the kingdoms, and it looks no different here tonight in Vale!"

"You know, I'm kinda glad they decided to hold the parade at night. It makes the floats look more... more dazzling in this lighting, you know? Oh, look! Here comes Beacon Academy's float-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when a loud collective gasp came from the huge crowd watching the parade. Lisa and Cyril were confused as they didn't see what got everyone so shocked at first, but soon they too gasped when they saw what it was.

"Whoa! What in the world? ...Is, is that a giant shopping cart?" Cyril blinked.

"I think it is, Cyril..." Said Lisa in disbelief.

Team Fortress' cart had busted right through the barricades blocking off the streets from the boulevard the parade was taking place on. They were lucky enough to not hit anyone or even anything except the barricades, narrowly missing the pristine white float of Atlas Academy and were now practically flying down the boulevard ahead of all the floats. The attention on the lively floats had been completely shifted onto the fast moving car-sized shopping cart with a bunch of men crowded in it for some reason, all screaming their heads off in what sounded like a mix of joy and terror.

"Turn the camera! Focus in on that!" Lisa ordered the cameraman with some excitement. "Ladies and gentlemen, the 40th Vytal Festival Parade has just been interrupted by what looks like a giant runaway shopping cart!"

"There's also people inside that thing!" Cyril added.

Completely unintentionally, the gang has suddenly become the focus of all of Remnant with what started out as a nonstandard escape from the White Fang and Atlas. This news broadcast was being transmitted and linked to all the other kingdoms' news networks, and people from all over the world looked on in both wonder and surprise about how anyone can interrupt such a wonderful display of international peace.

Teams RWBY and JNPR are certainly surprised. Like everyone else, they were utterly speechless with this sudden interruption. Only for them to get even more jaw dropped when they saw who was in the cart. It was very surreal for the teens watching the parade from front row streets. The cart veered really close to their side of the boulevard, and in fact the only thing that separated them from the mercs in that mere two seconds of time was the barricade. It didn't feel like two seconds for the teens at all. Time seemed to slow down to a stop, the complete opposite of what the cart was doing, and the teens were able to clearly see the mercenaries right before they blew right past them at this speed.

" _ **WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?**_ " Roared Ruby with enough force in her cute voice to actually sound threateningly angry/absolutely shocked.

"Was that those vigilante guys!?" Yelled the heiress with her wide eyes tracking the guys.

"Yeah..." Blinked Blake, disbelieving that the man she spoke to mere hours ago just sped by screaming bloody murder.

"They're about to crash into the river!" Went Jaune.

The leader of Team JNPR was not exaggerating, though I don't see why he would. You see dear readers, not too far ahead, the boulevard this parade was taking place on ran alongside a river that goes through the center of the City of Vale. If you were to pull up the official map of the city online, then you would see clear as day that there is indeed a wide river that practically splits the city up into three sections. The parade is taking place near the literal center of the city where the river splits into a fork that separates most of the industrial district from the commercial and agricultural districts. Said river was also where Team Fortress was diving straight into.

 ***SPLASH***

The crew's cart plowed into the sand which slowed them down significantly. Not enough though, as such was the momentum of which the cart moved at that the moment the wheels touched the water, the entire cart flipped forward and into the air due to the very sudden resistance of the water acting against the cart's speed, spilling all the mercs out into the water. Nobody was hurt by it though, just really disoriented, and... laughing.

"THAT WAS BLOODY EPIC!" Laughed Demoman alongside most of his team.

"Yeah, baby! Now that's how you make a freakin' escape!" Whooped Scout.

"Ain't had a ride that fun since the first time my grandpa took me out bull riding!" Chuckled Engie, who then gave Spy a nudge. The Frenchman was upset that his fancy suit had just been soaked, but he would be lying that he didn't at least grin at the conclusion of this insanely dangerous ride.

"Oui. C'était super..." He softly grinned, before it dropped when he saw the people coming down to meet them.

While the boys were busy picking themselves up and laughing their adventure up, the huge crowd they attracted funneled down onto the river beach to see what was up with them. This included the news team with Lisa Lavender and Cyril Ian coming down to get the scoop of this story, and also Teams RWBY and JNPR who wanted answers right fucking now.

"Sir! Sir! I'm Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network." Said the news reporter with some tiredness to her breath. Her fellow news reporter was too busy catching his breath to introduce himself, but he gave a nod anyway. The merc she was speaking with was Scout since he was the first one to pull himself ashore.

"News?" Scout said, his signature grin slowly appearing on his face at the mention of the word.

"Yes, now why did-"

"Lady, I am more than happy to give you the full report on the biggest news this town's ever had. And that's gonna gave to be _me._ Don't know if you ever heard, but I'm kind of a big deal..." He gave a confident toothy grin, striking a little pose at the camera with his fingers pointed at it like guns complete with a little cocking noise. "And yes. To all the pretty ladies out there, _I'm_ single."

While Scout began droning on and on about how he was the bestest thing ever, the others had just dragged themselves out of the water. They were still laughing it up when the crowd surrounded them and began asking them all sorts of questions. The sudden rush of people did catch them off guard, but they were ultimately cool with the crowd. Nothing can really upset them after that insane escape. Their feelings did not change even when Team RWBY confronted them, or rather tried to. Seriously, there was so many people that none of the teens could get remotely close to the mercenaries without getting shoved or pushed away to the back. The mercenaries already noticed that Teams RWBY and JNPR were here, but they didn't really care. All they wanted to do now was getting out of here and going back to the relative comfort of their base.

Lisa Lavender's patience was quickly wearing thin with Scout's annoying boasting, and so she shifted the news onto Heavy who had been standing next to him with Spy, both facepalming at the Frenchman's son's arrogance while he was speaking to the news. Or you know, constant bragging. Whichever you prefer. "Good evening, sir. I am Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network. Can you please explain why you and these other men did... well, _that_?" She asked, pointing at the cart that was now sinking into the water like a little ship.

"That? Um, that is cart." He said before Scout cut him off.

"Whoa, what the Hell lady!? I ain't done talking here! Hey pal, point that thing back at me - ARGH!"

Scout was then hushed by Spy who appropriately socked him in the gut for being stupid, the Boston kid crumpling over with the only thing stopping him from hitting the floor being Spy holding him up. Now Scout is more than tough enough to take a punch from anyone. I mean, if he can take a single punch from Heavy and keep going then he's definitely tougher than the average guy. However, this is from his dad. A little something called a 'love punch' if you wll, even if Spy doesn't necessarily come off as someone who loves his son, he actually does. And now he's doing his duty as a dad and stopping his son from fucking up.

"So..." Heavy trailed, thinking of something else to say to the waiting newswoman. Of course he couldn't say that they just escaped from the White Fang and Atlas with a shopping cart, even if nobody would believe that, so he had to come up with some kind of excuse. "It was... um... it was for festival! We ride cart to have fun!" He gave a big ole smile for the camera.

"LIAR!" Some girl shrieked from the very back of the crowd, she obviously being Ruby. Nobody paid her any attention though and kept their focus on Spy and the mercs who had been given space to gather around each other.

"Yeah, that's right! My big buddy here and I had a blast!" Scout wheezed with his grin still on his face.

"Eh, it was fun." Sniper shrugged.

"Mphmhphmhoo!~" Laughed the Pyro in joy.

"Most bloody fun I've had in a while! Hahaha!" Demo smiled.

"This was so enjoyable that it should be made illegal, but it isn't because America loves it!" Soldier added eagerly.

"Haha, of course! All in the name of good fun for the Vytal Festival!" Cheered Spy as he remembered that this was the name of the festival in this strange world, hoping this would get everyone off their case so they could leave.

To his relief, it appeared to be working as the crowd began murmuring positively at his explanation. Some began smiling and even some laughs coming out of them from the mercs' positive attitude. The only ones who weren't feeling positive about this were the 75% of Team RWBY that didn't like the mercenaries. They felt disgusted and even a little horrified that these criminal scum could stand in front of live TV after doing such a crazy stunt and not get in big trouble. There were police officers in the crowd by the way, but they weren't looking at the mercenaries as criminals so much as them just being a bunch of unlucky guys tonight. After forcing the crowd and VNN reporters away from the mercenaries, they questioned them about the whole incident.

Believe it or not, crazier things than this have happened in previous Vytal Festivals, and a lot of them did not end on such a happy note as this. The police were glad that this time around the crazy incident did not end in anyone getting hurt. Only a disruption of a parade that just barely started. After some smooth talking from the master negotiator that was Spy and the general friendliness of the mercs, the boys managed to get away with just a warning. Any other time of year though, and they would definitely get landed in jail for the night with a fine for public disturbance. Good thing they didn't though, of course.

So the crowd began to clear out of the river beach, leaving Team Fortress where they stood soaked in water. The news team also returned with the crowd since there was no more to say on this event, and now everyone was waiting for the parade to continue. No doubt that the stunt the mercs pulled here will go down as a huge meme on Remnant's internet after they did this shit on live television being broadcasted across the entire world.

"Well, zat vas fun." Grinned Medic.

"Aye, we already established that, mate." Demo said.

"Alright, lads. Let's get back to base..." The Australian said, but then a now familiar voice shrieked. A voice that has constantly greeted them with the same phrase nearly every time.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Screeched Ruby Rose, standing firm with an authoritative stance to look threatening once more. Weiss and Yang stood at her sides with the same stance, looking quite angry. Blake was standing back with Team JNPR, all of them disapproving of Ruby's behavior towards these guys.

"... after we deal with these kids again." Sighed Sniper.

"You may have fooled everyone into thinking you're innocent, BUT NOT US! NO! I, Ruby Rose, will find out the truth, kick your butts, and put you in jail!" She huffed, holding both hands up for Weiss and Yang to high five her, though only Yang did.

The mercs just stared at her with blank expressions. I think I said this before, but to the mercenaries, Ruby was about as threatening as a teddy bear armed with a bubble gun. While Ruby and her pals were seriously determined to take the mercs down, the mercenaries were shaking their heads in plain disappointed at her once again. She's just a silly kid who's got the wrong idea about them.

"Come on now, little lady. Y'all are seriously looking for another whooping already?" The Texan sighed.

"It's gonna be _YOU_ who gets your butt whooped this time!" Yang threatened with a fist.

"Ah, whatever you say, fraulein. I'll just have to put you to sleep again." Medic shrugged, infuriating her. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Calm down, vould you? Such anger is not good for someone so young!" He laughed, though Yang wasn't laughing.

"Stop right now." Heavy said seriously, stepping forward. "There is no need for fight. You will only get destroyed again. Your friends will not help you, and even she is not helping." He said, pointing at Blake who had no intent of helping her team out this time. "We do not want to fight. Heavy wants to be friends with you, even if you are all silly kids."

"W-wha!? We're not silly! Y-you're the silly one, y-you...uh, bald person! You're bald!" Raged Ruby very childishly with Heavy just giving her a straight face. She was so adorable when she's angry, and her childish insults were not helping her strong huntress image at all. And she wonders why the mercs don't take her the most seriously out of all of them...

"Ruby, please. We really do not want to be enemies with your team, but you are making it really hard to like you kids. Except them. They are okay." He shrugged, nodding to Team JNPR who felt a little happy that the mercs liked them.

"You're stupid!" Continued the immaturity, complete with sticking her tongue out at Heavy who was becoming just a tiny bit annoyed. Yang soon joined in on the insults because of course she would, and Weiss also had some things to say to them. Just like, well, earlier today actually, the two sides began arguing once again. This time it wasn't over who started a fight, but because it was an insult battle over which side is stupider than the other.

Blake had just enough of Ruby's immaturity, and so she stepped up to talk to the mercenaries herself. If her team couldn't be civilized about this, then she would have to be the civilized one here. Coming up from behind Ruby and Yang, she did what her mom used to do whenever she was bad and pulled on both of their ears. If only she had a third arm, then she would have gotten Weiss as well.

"Ow! Owww! Blake? What gives!?" Whined poor little Rubes.

"Yeah, what gives!?" Her sister yelled as well.

"Quiet." The catgirl hissed scarily, hushing both of them completely as well as Weiss since she didn't want none of that. Once she made sure that her teammates were quiet, she let them go, gave them a warning glare, and turned her attention on the mercenaries with an apologetic smile. "Sorry for my teammates. They're still a little, uh... grumpy, after earlier."

"Eh, s'alright, mate. Not their fault they can't fight." Snickered Sniper, knowingly angering the girls. Said girls were about to start some shit again, but then Blake shot them a fierce warning glare again.

"Right... but seriously, you have to excuse my friends. They're just mad that you guys have been constantly beating us."

"Oui, we've already figured that out." Nodded Spy.

"What!? No, that's not it!" Ruby blurted out, everyone giving her a stare. "...well that's kinda it, but you're also baddies who belong in prison!"

"Yep. She's so mad." Grinned Scout.

"Ruby, I thought you were nice girl. How can you hate us like baby crying over toy?" Heavy asked.

"Yeah, Ruby. Stop acting like a big baby." Nora said.

"They haven't done anything wrong." Pyrrha added.

" _Grrrrrr_... **THEY'RE A BUNCH OF STUPID MEAN BULLIES WHO DESERVED TO GET BEATEN UP AND LOCKED AWAY IN A COLD DARK PRISON SOME DUMB PLACE REALLY FAR AWAY FOR HUMILIATING US!** " Yeah, Ruby just gave her true feelings and motives away.

"No, bad Ruby! BOP!" So in an earlier chapter, we saw Nora give Ruby a couple of bops. If it wasn't obvious, a bop is the complete opposite of a boop. Where a boop is a gentle touch of loving care, a bop is a hit of pure disciplinary wrath. Which takes the form of a fist being gently brought down on Ruby's head with devastating effect. Like, all Nora did was make her hand into a fist and brought it down with just barely enough force for it to hurt a little, but it's not the physics of the thing that matters. It's the thought that counts.

" **OWIE!** " Shrieked poor Ruboo, covering her head with a cute little tear being shed.

"Now say you're sorry!" Demanded Nora.

"NEVER!"

"SAY IT!" Nora yelled, her terrifying fist raised high and ready to strike Ruby down in another bop. Ruby was just about ready to shriek in fear this time, and if it weren't for this next interruption, she would have apologized in a heartbeat. Like earlier today, the exact same cop from earlier, who also happened to be the same guy who spoke with the mercenaries about the cart, came running back down the beach.

"Hey! What do I got to keep telling you kids!?" He yelled as he approached with his cop buddies who were also the same guys from earlier. "That's it. I keep telling you to stop causing trouble, and you won't listen to me."

"B-but officer!" Ruby whined.

"NO BUTS! I swear, it's like you're **_trying_** to get into trouble whenever you're in the city! Now come on. You kids are going right back to your academy."

"But we're gonna miss the parade!" Jaune said.

"Too bad." The officer said uncaringly.

Sulking, the teens had no choice but to follow the cops. The mercenaries looked on as they left. In any other circumstances, they would have been grinning in victory as they got what they deserved. But here, they just felt bad. Now the mercs weren't one for really caring about what happens to their enemies, but these kids were different. First of all, they weren't enemies, and they were... well, just kids. Just some poor hapless kids who got the wrong idea about them and have gotten beaten up twice for it _and_ in trouble with the authorities. It just felt bad, like there's not even another way to describe how they felt.

"Men, I would be lying if I said I don't feel bad for those young freedom lovers getting taken away by those law police officers. We should beat the cops up." Soldier said in what could pass as a 'sad' and 'caring' tone.

"No, Soldier. We ain't gonna beat no cops up." Engie sighed.

"Mphmhm hmphm." Said Pyro, giving Heavy a nudge. "Phhm hmpo!"

"Okay my friend. I will talk to them. Is only right thing to do." Heavy said. The Russian stood straight and called the cops back to them. "Stop! Those kids have done nothing wrong. They are with us."

"Hmm? What, are you guys like huntsmen or something?" The cop asked. The guys still didn't know what huntsmen were since, no matter how much it felt like time has passed, it still has been less than I think two days since they've been in this world. But considering how it sounded like these huntsmen guys were serious business, they decided to roll with it.

"...da. We are huntsmen." The Russian said. Teams RWBY and JNPR looked on at him in confusion, not understanding why he was helping them out. Also, they didn't believe that the nine of them were huntsmen for shit. "They were fighting us as... as training exercise." Blinked Heavy as that was the best excuse he could come up with.

"Training exercise?" The officer echoed his words.

"Yeah, it was one of those things where they're supposed to hunt us down and what not." Sniper said to back Heavy's claim up. The teens still didn't know what they were doing, but they felt inclined to support them if it meant they didn't have to be dragged away by the cops and humilated once again. Obvious signs from the mercs for them to help only encouraged them.

"Uh, yeah! It was all just a training exercise! That whole thing about us being mad at them? It was just an act! Practicing my, uh... my bad guy stopping speeches!" Ruby said, giving an innocent smile towards the skeptical cop.

"Then what about that whole shopping cart thing? Was that part of the training too?"

"Um, that was a simulated crime! Yeah, that's it!" Scout said.

"Wait, are you serious? How come none of you said anything earlier then if this was all just training?" He asked, still looking at them really suspiciously.

"Couldn't break character!" Chimed in Nora.

"It breaks the immersion if they were to treat us as their superiors and not as enemies." Spy added.

The cop raised a brow at all of this since it was all quite fishy, but he eventually gave out a sigh and gave up. He let the teens go and left them in the care of the mercenaries who he assumed were their professors. The cops soon left the teams to themselves after that, and when they did, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for the help, misters!" Cheered the bubbly Nora.

"Yeah, thanks I guess..." Huffed Ruby who was still grumpy despite their help.

"Ah, it was nothing that the warriors of freedom couldn't handle! That'll show those communists! Wait, I think I said something wrong..." Oh, stupid, stupid Soldier... how we love you and your love for all things involving America and freedom.

"Yes, yes, you kids are welcome and we appreciate your thanks. Now if you'll excuse us, we must head back now. It is getting late." Said Spy.

Team JNPR and Blake gladly waved the mercs goodbye, and of course the other three fourths of Team RWBY were still feeling salty about them even if they helped. With the mercenaries gone now, there wasn't much left to do except go back to the street and enjoying the parade before heading back to the academy.

* * *

 **Main White Fang Hideout, Vale Harbor**

Cinder watched the VNN playback of the mercenaries riding through down in their cart, intensely interested in them and their highly unconventional way of escape. She had already gone over what Roman and Neo had to say about the incident, and she was disappointed to hear it. However, she wasn't disappointed that Roman and Neo failed to keep them hostage, she was instead disappointed that they haven't learned a single thing about them. She wasn't mad about losing the hideout since that was kind of the reason why she chose to have the mercs held up there instead of here at the main base. In case they escaped and burned the place down, it was that small hideout that she had no trouble losing. There was no doubt that it upset the Fang, but she didn't mind. The Fang will never go against her.

"Hmm... it seems like capturing them isn't as simple as we thought..." She hummed in interest. Roman and his little ice cream babycake stood before her, silent and maybe a little afraid. On the bright side, they both had big ice cream cones they got on the way over here. "Well, they're aware that we're after them now..."

"...what do you think we should do then?" Asked Roman since he just knew she was gonna give him some order to capture them again.

"Nothing." He didn't even know why he thought he could predict her. Nobody could understand how she thinks... "Now that they know that they have an enemy in this city, there's no doubt that they'll be more alert for anything. Still, I would love to learn who they are..."

She pulled up a database on all known huntsmen in the Kingdom of vale and narrowed it down to those who are currently in the city of Vale itself. None of the results matched the men. In her experience, these men were either rogue huntsmen, or they were thugs for hire like mercenaries. Which they ironically were even if she didn't know it. No matter what the choice was, the one thing that was sure was that they were causing the White Fang some trouble. It wasn't so much troubling for her since the mercs haven't struck anything vital to her plans, but it has most definitely gotten the entirety of the White Fang riled up. Word spread extremely quickly amongst their ranks about these supposed vigilantes who destroyed a hideout and now led to the busting of another, and reactions could be summed up as anger.

Again, Cinder didn't mind what the Fang felt. If anything, their anger actually made things swing towards her side. The Fang were already an organization of Faunus with a hatred toward Humanity, and as we know negative emotions like that attract Grimm. Though that phase of the plan wasn't happening yet, it couldn't possibly hurt to have a few more Grimm attracted to the walls of the city just because the Fang hated these guys in particular.

Cinder also wasn't sure what it was about them, but she couldn't shake the feeling that these guys were important somehow. It was almost as if destiny was calling out to her to do something about these guys...

...and she believes in destiny.


	9. Chapter 9

**MiR V2 Chp. 9 A0**

* * *

 **Vale**

After dealing with Team RWBY in a nonviolent way for once, the mercs went on their merry way back to their hidden base.

"Well fellas, looked like things turned out alright after all." Whistled the Scout.

"Indeed, but how did you break out of confinement before we got there?" Asked Spy since he'd been waiting to ask them that.

"Oh, that. I think Pyro here could explain it better than me."

"Mphm phmh hmpmh. Mphmhm hmhmpmh grogm mphmh pfffmh peh." Explained Pyro.

"I see... I should have known you would do something like that..." The Frenchman chuckled a little after hearing the explanation. He should have seen it a mile away because it was so obvious.

"Yep. Some of those goons came down there to beat us to death, but we sure showed them!"

"We beat them to death instead! God bless America!" Cheered Soldier.

There wasn't much else to talk about other than that. The formerly captured boys asked what happened to all the things they bought earlier today where Engie and Spy explained that it was all safely back at their base. Nobody said much else after that. It was an hour walk away to their hideout from where they were in the city. Tons of people were still out in the streets despite it being so late. This Vytal Festival must be really something in this world, but also like a lot of other things in this world, the boys didn't really care about it all that much. All they really wanted to do was go home.

 **...**

Unbeknownst to any of them, or anyone in general, a flash of green appeared on a nearby rooftop. Much like the white flash that was the portal that dropped Team Fortress unceremoniously into Remnant, this green one was also a portal. It too also dropped some people into Remnant. People from Earth.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, The Next Morning**

Ruby was a little mad this morning. Today was the start of another school week which meant it was back to the usual old classes and stuff, but that's not what's making her angry. So Ruby and her team woke up this morning and were getting ready for class like they always do when Blake turned on their TV, and on it was a news report summarizing major events from yesterday. It started off with the usual Vytal Festival highlights that went kinda in chronological order as they happened yesterday, but that didn't get Ruby mad. In fact, it's safer to say that that Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were all mad after seeing a couple certain parts of what was onscreen.

"V _ideos of a man with a 'miracle healing beam' have gone viral yesterday morning._ " Reported Lisa Lavender of the VNN. _"This video is only one of many of who witnesses are calling the 'Miracle Doctor'._ " The screen then changed to show the clearest video quality the VNN could find on the internet of Medic healing people with his Medigun. Excited murmuring coming from people in the video was heard all around as the man did his work, but it went wild as Hell when it got to the part where Medic made the old man's arm grow back. " _We haven't been able to confirm if the video is fake or not, but there are several others showing the exact same thing along with dozens of eyewitness testimonies claiming that what you just saw really happened._ "

"Humph... that's totally fake..." Huffed Weiss.

"I don't know about that. That guy did use that same gun thing on his friends yesterday." Blake pointed out back to when they were fighting the mercs, but none of her teammates wanted to hear it. The news was already reminding them about these guys, and they didn't need Blake to further remind them about how badly they were beat yesterday.

The girls then got back to getting dressed up for class after that. They left the news on where Lisa Lavender continued to list out highlights from yesterday for them to listen. Even though it was kinda obvious that it was coming, it still made them mad again when Lisa brought up the highlight of the mercenaries riding through the streets with their shopping cart. What Lisa was saying was ignored for the most part since Team RWBY already knew about it, but they still watched. Videos from scrolls had actually been taken from random citizens on the street of the mercs passing around, and they were all in a mashup showing different angle of them flying through the city in their giant shopping cart before ending when they interrupted the parade. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang looked absolutely pissed when that part came up. They could barely see themselves in the very back of the crowd as Heavy was lying to the news.

What was announced next though did legitimately surprise them though. Apparently, their was yet another raid on a White Fang hideout last night. The news weren't able to give an exact time since Atlas responded instead of the VPD this time, but all Team RWBY could gather from it was that it happened at around the same time the mercs went on that wild cart ride. It surprised them for two reasons: that it happened to begin with, and that the mercenaries were apparently not responsible for it if they were riding in the streets for some stupid reason. They already knew the mercenaries were responsible for attacking the White Fang last time, they admitted to that, so they thought Atlas happened to find this one and raid it themselves. At least that's what the news said Atlas refused to give out a lot of details on the incident.

Needless to say, their day was starting out on a pretty sour note. Team JNPR could easily see that based on the grumpy expressions on Team RWBY's faces, except for Blake of course. Every day since school began, Teams RWBY and JNPR would walk together to their classes and usually those were pretty pleasant experiences as a big group of friends. Then there's today with the sour mood of Team RWBY...

Nobody said anything except for the usual 'good morning' and junk on their way to class.

Then, Ruby got a message on her scroll. It was from Ozpin, and he wanted to see her and her whole team right this instant.

 **...**

Ozpin was alone in his office. General Ironwood was off on an inspection of the kingdom's security since that was his responsibility, and Glynda was teaching her firrst combat class for today. Last night, he, Ironwood, and Glynda were discussing the raid Atlas conducted on the White Fang hideout which happened to be where Team Fortress escaped from. This was the second time that weekend a White Fang base had been found, but the thing was that it appeared to be yet another vigilante attack. However, unlike the last time, the Fang were still in the building when Atlas arrived and there were no such vigilantes in sight. The only reason why Ozpin and his circle could come to that conclusion was that one of the Fang captured last night actually said something about what happened. She was a rabbit Faunus, and she was obviously very traumatized when the soldiers found her cowering under a table.

The only thing she was able to say were a few broken and shaky sentences about an attack on them from two men. When asked to describe their attackers, she was too afraid to say. An investigation of the hideout also did not reveal much other than the expected boxes of munitions and dust. Once again, any evidence on other Fang activities in the city had been destroyed, but this time it appeared as though the Fang themselves burned it instead of it being destroyed in a massive fight.

The good headmaster had just called Team RWBY to come meet him for an unrelated reason however. Despite Teams JNPR and RWBY being allowed to come home without the police dragging them back to the school, the police still contacted him and told him about all the trouble they've been getting into in the city yesterday. It was only standard procedure, no matter how many times Team RWBY has gotten into trouble in the past. He had also seen the news highlights of the festival yesterday, and he couldn't help but shake his head when he saw Ruby peeking her little head above the crowd to shout "LIAR" when Heavy was explaining himself.

It only took a few more minutes for Team RWBY to come out of that elevator and stand before Ozpin in their school uniforms. He could tell by their expressions that this came as a surprise, but he could also see that they were a little upset about something under that. Except on Blake for obvious reasons.

"Good morning, girls." He nodded to them to which they nodded back.

"Good morning, headmaster." They all said in unison.

"Have a seat. There's something we need to talk about." They did as asked, waiting anxiously for what the headmaster was going to say. He only called them up here as a team whenever they were either in trouble, or he had a mission for them. Judging by how the headmaster wasn't very enthusiastic, or rather what passes for enthusiastic for him, the girls knew they were in trouble for something. "Care to explain why you've gotten into so much trouble with the police yesterday?"

"Uhhhh... we were looking for vigilantes?" Ruby answered timidly, giving a nervous smile.

"Have you now?"

"Y-yes... a-and..." She choked and paused, thinking of what to say next that wouldn't make them look bad in front of him. "...and I am happy to say that we did find them!"

"Did you really?" The headmaster asked, raising a brow.

"Yep! We found them, faced them, annnnnnd..."

"They beat us." Huffed Weiss, face scrunching up in anger.

"... yeah. They did..." Sighed Ruby in disappointment.

"We even brought Team JNPR with us, and they _still_ won!" Shouted Yang who was beginning to flame up a little. Ozpin already heard from the police that Team JNPR was involved too, but he decided to leave them out this time around. Usually when Team JNPR got into trouble, it was because Team RWBY dragged them into it in the first place. This proved to be the correct in this case.

"It's in my understanding that these are the same men you believe are the vigilantes responsible for attacking that White Fang hideout the other day."

"Yeah!" All of them except for Blake shouted together.

The headmaster sighed. He could tell that they sincerely believed it to be true, and to be quite honest, he had an instinct telling him that they were right as well. Still, there was no proof for any of this. Last time Team RWBY came up here to report something in front of Ironwood, Glynda, and himself, they sounded incredibly biased about their meetup with what Ozpin and his circle could only logically to assume were a random group of huntsmen or experienced fighters that Team RWBY mistook for vigilantes. They didn't even provide a description of them in how occupied they were with describing them as 'a bunch of jerks.' Ironwood and Glynda quickly dismissed Team RWBY's claims for this immature behavior, but as said above, Ozpin felt like there was some truth in what they were telling them.

"Girls, please. I understand you only want to help, but this is out of your hands. You've already done more than what could have been asked of a team of huntresses-in-training..." The girls knew exactly what he was talking about, and they knew he was right. Not a lot of other student teams in the past could claim to have done nearly as much as Team RWBY has, and they've only been in Beacon for less than two semesters! "It's time for you to rest and relax. Enjoy the Vytal Festival. You deserve it."

"We're trying to! But then these jerks keep popping up and ruining everything!" Ruby whined. "Plus they're baddies! And... and... OH! THEY EVEN ADMITTED TO IT!"

"Hmmm?" Ozpin's eyes actually widened a little, just enough for it to be noticeable. Ruby saw this, and a cocky grin appeared.

"Those guys that nobody believes are vigilantes _**ARE**_ vigilantes! They told us that they're the ones who did it!"

" _After they beat us **again**..."_ Growled her dragon sister.

"Exactly! We _DO_ have proof! You have to believe us now!" Ruby smiled as if she were a crazy person.

"Hmm... how do I know you're not lying to make yourselves look good in front of me?"

...

"Um..." Damnit.

"Do you have any solid proof? Preferably something that's not your own word?"

"...the news! They were on the news!" The heiress exclaimed once that lightbulb lit up. Acting quickly, she got out her scroll and searched up the video in the VNN archives. Her team crowded all around her, excited that there actually was at least something they could show Ozpin. Once she did find it, Ozpin was shown the same thing he saw on the news last night of Team RWBY being rude in the middle of a news interview on some gentlemen. "There! These are the men who did it!"

The headmaster didn't say anything. He only took a moment to study the faces of all the men that Weiss was pointing out to him. Nine men in all, and all of them admittedly did not look like civilians, and neither did they look like any huntsmen he's seen before. He already came to this conclusion last night after seeing this same interview, but he was able to tell that they were indeed fighters of some kind based on their appearance alone.

"...You do realize this doesn't prove anything." He said blankly, giving them a just as blank look.

"Uh... _yes_... but this is them!"

"All I could take from this is that these are apparently the same men you've been troubling since Saturday."

Shit.

The girls did not have a lot else to say other than that. That little snippet showing what the mercenaries looked like was all they really had to show Ozpin, and he clearly was not believing them. Blake hadn't said a single thing this whole time. It was because she knew anything she would say would have been shut out by her teammates, so she let them say whatever they wanted first before speaking up. Ozpin also noticed this, and he was wondering why Blake seemed so calm and quiet about this compared to last time where she was just as mad as her teammates.

'Ms. Belladonna, do you have anything to add before I send you all back to class?" Asked the headmaster.

"Yes. Yes I do." She got out her own scroll and also went to the VNN archives, but for the report of the attack on Saturday instead. "On Saturday, when they destroyed the first hideout, the news got some pictures of them. The pictures are not very clear, but take a look at this..." The catgirl then took Weiss' scroll where she compared the blurry pictures of the first attack and compared them to the images on Weiss' scroll. Blake didn't need to say another word for none were needed for Ozpin to understand.

"Oh, yeah! Smart thinking, Blake!" Cheered the happy little Rubes.

"Oh my... I suppose you girls are right then." Said the headmaster. He didn't look much more surprised than he already was before, but this is Ozpin we're talking about here. He keeps his emotions pretty tightly under control. "You said they spoke with you after they've beaten you? Where they admitted to doing it?"

"Yep! They told us everything!" Grinned Rubes.

"What did they say?"

"They said it was an accident, which is totally stupid." Shrugged the heiress. "They also said they were mercenaries from some place called 'Earth', and that they're unemployed. They even admitted to attacking the police and stealing those cars the other day."

"And they told you all this without any hesitation?"

"Well, yeah, actually. They beat us and just sort of... talked to us like normal guys after that." Blake said. She was a little afraid to say this next bit because her team didn't know about it, but she was going to tell her meeting with Spy as well. "I managed to run into one of them and he was nice enough to talk with me. He said his name was Spy, and he told me the exact same thing when I asked him again." As she expected, her whole team was looking at her horrified. No doubt they were gonna whine and complain to her later about this.

"Hmm... they don't sound very hostile based on what you're saying."

"That's because they're really not. Headmaster, to be honest with you, they only fought us because we attacked first." Said the catgirl.

"BLAKE. ZIP IT." Ruby blurted out, beginning to sweat a little.

"I see..." Ozpin nodded, saying nothing else for a moment. "... That will be all for now. Thank you for sharing this information with me, girls. You may go to your classes now."

"Wait, we're not in trouble?" Asked Ruby.

"No, not this time. But please try not to get in any further trouble. As I said before, relax. It's not good to have this kind of stress with the Vytal Festival Tournament coming ever so close."

The girls understood, and soon said their goodbyes as they left his office. Ozpin was alone once again with this information now in his knowledge. All this was certainly interesting to the headmaster, but as he thought before about this, it still was not a top concern for him and his circle. He decided that he wasn't going to tell Ironwood about this because he was certain that Ironwood will stir some unnecessary trouble in trying to confront them with his soldiers. However, while he wasn't going to have the mercenaries be an issue for his colleagues to deal with, Ozpin was thinking about the possibility of talking with these men. If they're nice enough to speak with Teams RWBY and JNPR after they defeated them, then there's a chance they'll speak with him.

* * *

 **Mercs' Hideout**

So Team Fortress got settled into their hideout real nicely. What at first started off as an unbearable ass piece of shit place to live was now a mildly okay place to live in! They got electricity, a TV, a refrigerator, plenty of food and water, some blankets, a couch, and a bunch of other stuff people need for comfy living.

However, they quickly discovered another problem of being in this world. It wasn't really a new discovery since they actually found it out yesterday, but it simply came all the more apparent today. There was nothing to do. Except for Engineer whose job was to build a Teleporter back home, none of them had anything to do except sit around. Now some of them were perfectly fine with that since they didn't expect to stay in this world for very long, but that didn't mean Engie was going to be able to find a way back home in such a short time.

Medic, Heavy, Scout, Soldier, and Spy was in the 'living room' of sorts, even though there was no walls separating anything. They just got done watching the news highlights of last night which happened to include them in it, and now they were watching some cooking show. Sniper was on top of the factory roof because where else could that man possibly be? Engineer was in his makeshift workshop working on a Teleporter, and Demoman and Pyro were somewhere in this place. Actually, they showed themselves just now.

"Oi! Come down to the basement, lads!" He yelled for them.

Not having anything better to do, they all went with him except for Sniper and Engie for obvious reasons. The Scotsman and Pyromaniac led them down to the lower levels of the factory, towards where the reinforced door that was sealed off was. Not too surprisingly to them, the rubble behind the thick metal door was filled to the brim with dynamite and all sorts of other explosives.

"Hehe, guess we're going to find out what these bloody Grimm are. Right lads?"

"Are you sure this is wise, Tavish? This door does imply that whatever these Grimm are must be quite dangerous." Spy asked, reading said signs. He wasn't down here when they found it yesterday, only heard about it when his teammates told him they found it. This was the first time he was down in the basement in general, and he couldn't help but notice that there were logos of a company called 'Merlot Industries' down here that weren't present anywhere else in the factory. The logo of the company that owned the factory wasn't this.

"What, are you scared?" Scout grinned, earning a punch in the arm from his unknown dad.

"Shut up. Tavish, as long as this building doesn't collapse because of this explosion and kill us all, then I am fine with this."

It didn't actually matter what anyone said to Demoman since he was going to blow away all this rubble anyway. Now since this was in a narrow corridor, making a big explosion down here would make an inferno of fire blast through the hall and incinerate them just like in the movies. So they did the logical thing and went all the way up to a side room so that they wouldn't get fucking turned into ashes like, well, actually they've been turned into ashes before...

Scout was the last one into the room, but Pyro wasn't even in the room yet when Demoman blew it.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

Just like in the movies, a burst of fire blasted through the straight corridor. The heat and light was so intense, that even in this side room it forced the boys to cover their eyes and it may have even singed some hair off. It only lasted for less than five seconds, but the entire hallway was covered in ash and scorch marks. Pyro was perfectly fine. They weren't too worried about the Pyromaniac because its suit is pretty insane. If anything, Pyro actually enjoyed getting bathed in all that fire because of course he, or she, or it, would. As for the rubble the explosion was intended to get rid of, it was cleared away. The force of that explosion was so great that it actually pushed all the rubble straight down the opposite end of the hallway cleanly. The reinforced metal door was totally fine though. It was kind of designed to resist these kind of things anyway, so that wasn't a surprise.

"Haha! Alright, boys! Let's go show these Grimm the glory of America!" Said the patriot with a big ole smile, and a Shotgun loaded for fun.

The boys moved into the recently opened up corridor with their weapons drawn. Nothing happened for the first few minutes since it was a really long corridor that they had to walk through to get to anywhere. Once they reached the end of it , they found themselves in what was very clearly just another abandoned area in this place. Except it also clearly had nothing to do with the factory. Though it was abandoned just like the factory above, this place had a far cleaner and sleek look to it than the rough industrial appearance of above. Well, clean as in it would have been if there weren't claw marks, really old dried blood, and the expected spiderwebs among other features of abandoned areas all over the place. Just like the factory above, this place had been abandoned for some time.

Also, it was dark as shit down here. This place must have run on a separate power grid than that of the factory above since all the lights were out. The gang had to equip their Aperture Labs Hard Hat in order to see anything. The potato battery powered light did wonders in making this place more seeable.

"Geez, what do you think happened down here?" Scout asked, poking a long dead skeleton in a lab coat with his Bat.

"No idea, mein freund. But whatever it is, it definitely is not good..." Trailed the good doctor of the group.

Creepy and eerie were the words to describe this place. Multiple long dead skeletons in either lab coats or security gear lay dead all over the place, robots that looked like they were meant for security as well lay strewn in pieces, bullet holes in the walls, and these huge clawmarks were still all over the place. The fact that it was dark also didn't help matters much.

After walking around a little, they eventually realized that this place was some kind of research facility hidden under this factory. Whatever they were working on was still a mystery, but it was probably safe to guess that whatever it was had slaughtered them all, and maybe even led to the closing of the factory. Explains why the entrance had been sealed off by the rubble.

Then, the first sign of action in this horror/thriller movie feeling scene.

"Quiet. I hear something..." Heavy said to Medic.

The Russian and German had wandered into a wide room that appeared to have giant cages in them. The room was so wide, that it was easily as big as the main floor of the factory where the mercenaries had set themselves up at. As for the noise Heavy was hearing, it was a faint but noticeable tapping noise as if something hard was tapping against some metal above him. He was holding his Shotgun up and pointing it up at the ceiling, carefully scanning for whatever could have been the source of the noise.

It happened so quick. Heavy had no time to react when a large werewolf looking creature pounced on top of him and pinned him down to the ground. Heavy let out a startled yell when it happened, but it was cut short when the creature knocked the air out of him in its attack.

"Heavy!" Medic shouted, but then things started to get out of control.

The other mercenaries were currently exploring the offices of the facility when growls were heard from everywhere. It was echoing off the walls, and was seemingly coming from the darkness itself. Soon joining the noises of the creatures, were gunshots and explosions. Space was tight, not a lot of room to move around, and it was still dark as Hell down here.

"Was ist los!?" Medic yelled out, but nothing but the roars of monsters and guns answered him.

All around the mercenaries, strange creatures that resembled werewolves began attacking them, using the darkness to their advantage. These creatures were, as we should all know, were the Creatures of Grimm, and all of them down here were Beowolves. Of course the mercs didn't know that because they didn't know shit about this world, but that wasn't going to change how they were getting into quite a tussle down here.

As for Heavy, the bear of a man struggled to stop the Beowolf from gnawing his face off. Eventually, he managed to free up his right hand and grab onto the creature's face. The monster roared in rage, but then it started roaring in pain when Heavy began crushing its face. The bone plating began to crack before soon shattering with the rest of the head when Heavy turned it to goo with only one hand. Heavy kicked the corpse off of him and immediately got up only to see that there were more of these things in the room with him.

Six shells were quickly unloaded onto whatever targets he managed to see with his helmet light, six shells dropped four monsters. He frantically looked to see if Medic was alright and was glad to see that his doctor pal was holding his own against the creatures. Medic had his Syringe Gun knocked out of his hand by one of the creatures and was forced to fight them off with his Bonesaw. Heavy soon rushed in to help though, charging straight into the attacking Beowolves much like a rhino would.

While he and Medic stood together against the monsters, the others were doing the same nearby. Other than the helmet lights of the mercenaries, brief flashes of light from every time they shot or blew something up would reveal jet black monsters with piercing red eyes and bony spikes and plating all over them.

"HELLO GRIMM! WE ARE AMERICANS! WE ARE HERE TO BRING THE WORD OF FREEDOM TO YOU!" Said Soldier like a preacher while he beat a Beowolf to death with his Shovel. "HAHA! I THINK OUR MESSAGE IS GETTING THROUGH TO THEM, BOYS!"

And it most likely was. The initial surprise of the attack had worn off by now and the mercs were fighting these monsters off as best as they could. Despite being supernatural monsters, these things aren't very durable and they were cut down rather easily. Or burnt if you're Pyro. Things suddenly weren't very dark as fire stuck onto Beowolves and gave them a painful high temperature death. It also had the convenient side effect of lighting up the tight hallways. Now they could see exactly where the Beowolves were.

The fight ended only a couple minutes later after they finished killing off the Beowolves. Overall, the mercs came out of that relatively okay. The only ones who got seriously hurt were Scout and Demoman. Scout was hit when one of the things slashed him in the dark with its claws, but he was otherwise fine. Demoman got a concussion when one of the creatures tackled him and slammed his head against the wall, pretty much sending his brain to the clouds.

"Argh! Ugh... ah, man... that wasn't too bad. Right fellas?" Asked the Scout with a grin made of gritted teeth.

" _Mum... there's scumpy flying around me head..."_ Slurred the dude who's already always kinda slurring because he's drunk nonstop. Both of their injuries weren't a thing to worry about since Medic was there. I think we proved already that his Medigun is more than capable of healing these kinds of injuries.

"Ugh... violence follows us, indeed..." Sighed Spy.

"Ha! Violence is an important part of every American's experience!" Smiled Soldier, but Spy didn't smile back.

 **...**

The place was seemingly clear of any other monsters after that encounter. Nothing else attacked them while they continued to explore the facility. Eventually, they found where the power generator to the facility was. They didn't turn it on though for the very good reason that there was a big fucking hole in it as well as slashed machinery all over the damn thing. It would appear as though all the dead people here were killed in the dark as well...

Seeing that there wasn't anything else interesting down here, the crew headed back up the surface and closed the reinforced door. After that little episode, they went right back to their makeshift 'living room' and continued watching TV like they did not just encounter evil supernatural werewolf monsters less than half an hour ago.

Just like before, it did not take very long for them to get bored again. Or more specifically Scout since he was the most bordable of them all. The others were okay with watching TV for the most part.

"Man, this blows... You guys sure there weren't any more of those monster things down there?" Asked Scout in a bored tone.

His friends answered no.


	10. Chapter 10

**MiR V2 Chp. 10 A0**

* * *

 **Vale**

So...

Last time we saw the mercenaries, they cleared out an infestation of Beowolves in a secret research facility underneath their hideout. That happened like an hour ago, and the gang had hanged about their hideout after that, doing random things to keep themselves from dying of boredom.

Let's take a look at what Medic is doing for the sake of catching up with the good doctor.

Whereas the main floor of the factory was a big wide open hub for the gang to hang out at, there was also individual rooms and closets in the back of the factory. They were mostly just offices or storage space, but a cleared out office was good enough for Medic as the doctor set up shop in there. Granted that there wasn't really anything for him to set up since he didn't have a lot of stuff, but it's the thought of having a nice spot for himself that counted. As he was going through his stuff, the doctor discovered that he still got the business card from that nice old man whose arm he restored yesterday. Seeing that there wasn't a lot for him to do here, Medic decided to might as well give him a call. It could lead to something good.

Problem. None of the boys had scrolls, which as we all know is this world's equivalent of a phone, to call anybody with. That's an easy fix. All he had to do was go out into the city and find a payphone or phone booth if those were things this world has.

And so he did, but he didn't come alone. Heavy, Scout, and Demoman came with him for not a lot of reason other than why not? In Heavy's case it was because Medic was his best friend. Scout and Demoman came along because Demo wanted to try some of the drinks this world had to offer, and Scout wanted another shot at some ladies here. Maybe he could even get to know one of them Faunus gals while he was at it.

Okay, so the four of them walked into the city while the rest of the team remained at the hideout. Luckily, it turned out payphones were a thing in this world and Medic was happy enough to call up the number on the business card. Heavy stuck by near him while Scout and Demoman went right along to do whatever they pleased.

"Hello, Councilman Black's residence. This is the maid speaking." A young sounding woman answered. It caught Medic a little off guard since he hadn't expected that the old guy would have a maid, but he pressed on anyway.

"Hallo. I vould like to speak with, erm... Mister Black, if he is available." Said the doctor after taking a moment to read the name off the card.

"Mr. Black is a little busy at the moment, but I'll have him on shortly." Said the maid before silence took the phone line. Medic waited a moment until he could hear another voice on the phone.

"Yes. Who is this?" The voice of the old man from yesterday sounded off.

"Oh, heh... I never told you my name, but I am ze man who restored your arm yesterday."

"Doctor! It's you! Ha!" The man got all excited all of a sudden, clearly happy to be speaking with Medic again. "It's so good to hear from you, my good man! Now what can I do for you?" Before Medic could say anything though, Mister Black kept on going. "Hold that thought, because I've got a better idea! How about you come over to my home and we can talk?"

"Oh, zat sounds wunderbar!" Smiled the doctor, even though there was physically no way for the person on the other side to see it.

"Good man! You can find my address on the card I gave you. I expect to see you soon!"

He took a look at the card and found that there was indeed an address on the card, but that led to another problem. While the address itself is not a problem, the problem was that the mercs had absolutely no idea where his place was whatsoever. Guess it's time to get a city map then. That's something they could definitely use. So Medic and Heavy headed to the nearest store which conveniently happened to be _From Dust Till Dawn_. The old shop owner with the eternally closed eyes recognized them from a couple days ago, and he was pleased that they visited the store again. Heavy and Medic looked through the shelves of the store for anything that had a map of the city, Heavy saw something that caught his eye. There was an advertisement for an international weapons expo showcasing weapons from all over the world that was happening today.

Now the Russian was a man of simple interests. He likes fighting, Sandviches, his family, his friends, and weapons. Back on Earth, he visited weapon expos all the time. So what's stopping him from doing the same thingg here in this new world?

"Doctor, look." He told his German friend where he showed him the ad. "Is gun show. I want to go to this show.. Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Ah, of course, mein freund! Zer's no need to vorry about me. I am more zan capable of taking care of myself." Our good doctor man assured the big Russian bear of the crew with a smile to back it up. Heavy smiled back for he knew Medic was perfectly capable of doing so. Besides, based on some stories Medic has told him of his past in Germany, he is _definitely_ capable of taking care of himself.

 **...**

Scout wandered off on his own after Demoman stopped by a stand run by some Faunus guy from Mistral selling drinks from there. I think it's pretty obvious why Demoman would stop there, so let's follow Scout. The youngest out of the nine of them was doing more or less what you'd expect him to do, and that is going for some pretty young girls.

...and then you remember that this is Scout we are talking about here.

"Hey there..." He said to a cute cat Faunus girl who looked to be around his age. She was with a group of her friends who were also Faunus of various kinds, and they all looked at the Human man who was speaking to her. They looked a little surprised that he was talking to them. Maybe it was because Human guys don't typically go for Faunus girls? Whatever the answer was, Scout wouldn't know it. He just wanted a date. "Man, I don't know if anyone's told you this, but you're one of the prettiest gals I have ever seen in my whole damn life!" He said with a flash of his confident grin, and a wink. Neither she nor her friends looked impressed with his attempt at flattery. "Tell you what, back where I'm from, the gals ain't nearly as beautiful as you are. So how 'bout you and I go on a date later?"

They started laughing at him, like they always do. Scout's pretty oblivious to this kind of thing though, and so he thought the laughter was just a girl thing.

"Yeah, hahaha! I'm a real funny guy! And might I add that I am also one _byootiful_ man!" He then struck a pose and flexed the best he could. They only laughed even more. His basically nonexistent muscles and scrawny frame were making him look pretty bad here. The girls then left him there, giggling and snickering at him all the while.

"Oh... Heh, guess you're busy, huh? Nah, it's fine. No worries. I'm cool with that." He said to essentially nobody as he watched them leave. Keeping his grin on, Scout's brain managed to trick itself that somehow, he was gonna be popular with the girls in this world. Hell, his brain already fooled him into thinking that he was the most irresistible chick magnet back on Earth, and so it was trying the same thing here. "Man... this world seriously does have some pretty girls... ain't that the truth..." He let out a whistle as he scanned the area around them for girls to hit up. Since there was a huge international festival going on, there was definitely no shortage of beautiful ladies for him to try his charm on.

"Oi, are ye chasin' girls again, lad?" The Scottish voice of Demoman said as the man came walking over to him.

"Chasin'? Pfffffft! Demo, Demo, Demo... You got it all reversed, pal! The girls are _chasin'_ me!" Grinned Scout. Demoman gave him a blank look and glanced around them in case he somehow missed a horde of ravenous females rampaging over to Scout like a bunch of sharks attracted to blood in the water.

"...aye. Whatever you say, lad."

"Heh, so what's up with you? Got drunk from whatever the Hell that guy was sellin' yet?... Uh, drunker? _Drunkerer?_ "

"Nah. The stuff tasted like bloody flowers! I hadn't even heard of the bloody drink before either! He called it 'tea'. Ugh, disgusting..."

"'Tea?' What kinda stupid name for beer is that? You can't name something with one letter!"

"I don't know lad, but I ain't going back to him anytime soon..." Sighed the master of alcohol consumption. Demoman is so good at the art of drinking alcohol and other intoxicating drinks, that he hasn't been sober since virtually forever. In fact, you know how the Human body is made out of mostly water and shit? I am fully swung to believe that Demoman literally has more alcohol than water in his body until proven otherwise (good luck with that).

"You do you, pal. Now do ya mind? I'm trynna work my magic here!" Said Scout as he eyed a hot Human girl walking by.

"Try not to get slapped, boyo. Or worse... hahahaha!" Laughed Demo before he walked off to find a place that sells actual alcohol.

Scout watched the Black Scot as he left to make sure he wouldn't cramp his style no more. Once his eyes lost sight of Demoman, they narrowed in on the girl. Channeling his inner suave, he strode confidently over to her with his signature grin. None of these things helped him out.

"Hey there, good-looking! You have one amazing ass!"

*SLAP*

The poor guy got slapped so hard that he a full 360 degree spin before falling flat on his back.

"Gah! What's your freakin' deal!? I was just sayin' the truth!"

Maybe he should have shut up instead of saying another thing, but Scout was never one to shut his big mouth no matter what. As a result, he got stomped on the balls and a kick to the stomach. Horrifying pain were the words to describe how Scout felt as he did one of those agonized screams where there was so much hurt that no noise came out of his open mouth. There was so much hurt applied onto him that he did not even hear the girl call him a pervert before stomping off. He only laid there and cradled where it hurt. The only good thing he had going for him was that this was far from the first time this has happened to Scout, and so he was able to recover fairly quickly in about two minutes. During that time, many people walked around his limp body and some even laughed as they had seen what happened to him.

" _Ah... ow... damn it..._ " He groaned as he slowly got up to his feet. "Ugh! Dumb gal wouldn't know a compliment if it headshotted her..."

Scout's hopes were not dashed though. As said before, this was far from the first time this has happened, and he is perfectly willing to keep pressing on. As soon as he could feel his balls again, of course.

While he was scoping out for some more potential gals to go after, he noticed a stand that had a bunch of kids on it. Now Scout could barely read, but he was able to get the gist of the sign saying that these kids were a pack of orphans looking for donations for their orphanage. Now he would have normally ignored this if it weren't for all the girls heading toward the cute kids.

"That's it! Girls love kids! Kinda weird, but I got an idea!"

 **...**

While those four went out onto the city, Spy also did go out as well. He left a little while after they did since he came to the realization that collecting more information about this world will prove valuable later down the road. With the recent reveal that this world has demonic creatures and Engineer still having no luck with the Teleporter back home, he saw this as necessary for their continued survival here since he was beginning to sense that they'll be here for a while. Besides, his job as a spy was to collect information among a long list of other things a spy does anyways.

As for the other mercenaries, they stayed back at the hideout. Engineer was of course working on the Teleporter, and Pyro was helping Soldier out on some big project the American was working on in the back. Out of all the mercenaries, Sniper was actually the most content with sticking back at the factory and doing nothing. I mean, he is a camper. The man enjoys sticking around in one spot and waiting for things to happen, or he's at least quite used to it after spending long nights alone in the wild.

He went into town in a red 1965 Ford Thunderbird. He then - Wait a minute. 'That's not the car Spy had when they came here', is what some of you may be thinking if you had paid attention, and you would be right. The answer to why he has this other Earth car is actually quite simple, but in case you couldn't figure it out, it will be revealed later on so don't worry about it. I will say right now that he actually _doesn't_ have a Thunderbird with him in this world. He does back on Earth though, but that's a different story. There's your only hint for now.

Anyways, the Frenchman rode his Ford Thunderbird into the city. It didn't exactly match the other cars driven by regular people in the streets, but it served its purpose in getting him around without the police recognizing the car that wrecked nearly the entire police cruiser force by itself well enough. Nobody seemed to pay any real attention to him and the car anyway, unless they were car enthusiasts wondering what kind of car this was as the manufacturer was completely unheard of in this world. As long as the police didn't care about him, then it was all good to him.

Spy stopped by a major public library as this was undeniably the best place to gather information about this world. And goddamn did he learn a lot. He and the others already discovered on the first day here that dust was used for weapons and as the main source of energy in this world where things like gunpowder and gasoline don't exist (or possibly not used), and now he's learning a lot more about the general background of this world called Remnant. There was four kingdoms, a current time of peace was in place, those monsters called Grimm that they fought just earlier today actually infested the entire planet and are the greatest threat to civilization, more things about the Faunus, and perhaps most interestingly, what a huntsman is in this world.

He now knows why those annoying kids have such dangerous weapons. It's because they're training to be huntsmen. The keepers of the peace and the like. God knows why they start training at such young ages, but what he also discovered was the whole concept of what an aura and a semblance is. It explained how those teenagers could perform such supernatural abilities and wield such weapons without too much trouble. It also happened that the world's most prestigious huntsman academy is actually close to the city. Turns out that green glowing tower in the distance is where Beacon Academy was.

Spy wasn't here to learn specifics since he didn't have the time to learn every single detail on the things he was learning about, but he was pleased enough that he now knows the things that need knowing in this world.

He said it himself that his team is functionally a magnet for violence and stupidity. Knowing how things typically go for them, something was going to happen. There was never a time where shit didn't happen to them because the mercenaries did something. Even if it's something small and seemingly harmless like teleporting bread, there's a chance that some form of violence/stupidity or a combination of both would happen. Iin the bread example for instance, the teleported bread literally turned into a giant fucking monster that was almost indestructible.

Spy didn't really have anything else to do now, so he decided on might as well getting himself familiarized with the city while he was out here.

* * *

 **Upper Class District, Vale**

It took a while for him to find the address even with the map's help, but he did it.

And when he did find it, well...

Medic had not expected that the old man he helped lived in a small but nice mansion by the ocean. It was a grand old place, as a lot of mansions are, full of traditional architecture complete with columns and grand windows, a well kept garden, a pool, a private section of beach with its own dock for a small yacht, and a wall that separated it from the rest of the surrounding area. The building itself was colored in various shades and tints of black and white. It honestly looked a lot like a plantation house but without the plantation part if you want some reference as to what it looks like.

Clearly, Medic had unknowingly helped someone who's super rich or super important judging by where he lived alone. It wasn't a super big mansion full of gaudy details and decoration, but it did have a sort of homely comfort feel to it that made it seem humble in a way instead of in your face gaudy. Like it's not disgustingly rich, but it's instead a place designed to make anyone feel comfortable within it.

The gate leading inside the mansion was left open, probably in anticipation for Medic, and so he walked right in.

*knock knock knock*

A short wait later and the large double doors soon opened to reveal a young woman wearing a maid uniform. She looked something around 18-25 years of age, and she had yellow hair that fell to her shoulders with matching eyes. The most notable thing about her though was that she was a rabbit Faunus.

"May I help you?"

"Hallo zer, fraulein. I am here to see Mister Black." Medic said with a reassuring smile.

"Oh, right! I remember your voice." She said in a voice that Medic also remembered from over the phone. It looked like she warmed up to him right away as she let him in without any further hesitation.

Though it may have been because she was a maid and it was expected behavior, she was really polite and friendly to him. She had him wait in the foyer while she went upstairs to tell Mister Black that they had arrived. A short while later, the old man himself appeared from atop the staircase. He looked quite pleased to see them.

"Ah! Doctor! It's so good to see you!" Laughed the old man in a jolly manner as he descended the stairs.

Mr. Black warmly took Medic in with a firm handshake with his new right arm. A couple moments later, the two of them were seated in the back porch of the mansion where they had a fine view of the blue ocean beyond the gardens and dock. Seafaring ships of many different types were coming in and out of the bay, and the sky was clear and sunny. The maids brought in some ice cold lemonade for them, where Mr. Black was eager to start speaking with his newest friend.

"So, what's taken you so long to get here? I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up, my friend."

"Sorry for zat. It's just that I am not from around here." Answered Medic.

"I see... So you came to Vale for the Vytal Festival then, is that right?"

"Not necessarily... It's more like my friends and I are not from zis vorld. Zis festival is still nice though." He shrugged, taking a quick sip of some refreshing lemonade. The former Vale Councilman raised a brow at what he just said. Like anyone else in Remnant, he doubted what he said was true and assumed he was merely exaggerating. He will admit though that he never heard this accent before in all his years in Remnant.

"Ha... anyways, what can I do for you?" He asked warmly. "Money? A job? Anything. Please, anything for what you've done for me. Why, I know for a fact that there'll be many interested in your incredible healing gun. What is that thing called by the way?"

"I call it ze Medigun, and I am sorry to say zat ze design is not exactly... easy to reproduce." Medic said to which the Councilman nodded his head in understanding.

"Well what about a job then? I know they say to not judge a book by its cover, but you are obviously a man of medicine."

"As in work in a hospital? Hmm... no. Too many regulations and such for me to follow. I much prefer something with more action. For you see I am a doctor, but I am also a mercenary."

"Mercenary? Huh... don't judge a book by its cover indeed." This certainly surprised the old man. "So I assume you are something more along the lines of a field medic then? A doctor in combat?"

"Precisely! In fact, I am exactly that! That is until I was fired from my job a couple days ago. My employer didn't need me anymore."

"Heh... I was a medic once as well..." Sighed the Councilman. Medic quietly watched him close his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he held his new right arm up and looked at it as if it wasn't supposed to be there. "...There's no war or anything like that happening at the moment. Thank the gods for that... Remnant is currently in a time of peace. At least between the kingdoms that is... If a job about combat is something you'd like, then have you ever considered becoming a huntsman? I know the headmaster in Beacon, and I can recommend you to him if you want me too."

"Uh... excuse me for asking, but vat does a huntsman do in zis vorld?" Asked Medic innocently.

"...are you joking?" Blinked Mister Black.

"Oh no, zat vas no joke. I am being completely serious."

The Councilman had no idea why he's still keeping this up, but he decided to might as well play along and tell him anyway. Just more time for them to get to know each other.

"Humph, alright... oh! But before we do, I must apologize. I was so caught up in the joy of having my arm back that I forgot to introduce myself. I am former Councilman Don Black of the kingdom of Vale. Now that you know my name, I would like to know yours."

"Friedrich Ludwig von Rottenburg, but everyone calls me Medic. It is good to meet you, Mister Black."

The two men smiled at each other and took each other up in another warm handshake. Despite the age difference, it's clear that the Councilman and Medic were getting along fabulously.

* * *

 **Vale Convention Hall**

Heavy came to a weapons expo where he was promised weapons would be expoed, and he was not disappointed. Weapons of all sorts of different types ranging from classical antiques to more modern high tech ones were all on display. Everything from the familiar rifles and swords to new weapon systems for military or security usage were also present. This world had a huge variety of weapons that all caught Heavy's interest, and so far he was enjoying his time in this expo. He even considered getting his own space so he could showcase his Minigun to the people here, but then...

 _She_ came...

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Screamed that same adorable kid who's been messing with Heavy and his crew relentlessly for the past two days. Ruby stood alone this time around, kinda awkwardly trying to look like she meant business when all she was doing was getting in people's way.

"Oh, hello Ruby." Heavy said to the girl with a nod.

"Don't you 'hello' me, you meanie! What are you up to this time, _huh!?_ Are you gonna steal one of these super cool weapons for one of your stupid raids!?"

"No. I came to see weapons. I like weapons. I told you this already." Shrugged the Russian man. "You are here for same thing, da?"

"Uh... _noooooooo_..." She trailed unconvincingly, hiding a scroll full of very recent pictures of weapons behind her back.

"Hmm... I-"

"I AM NOT HIDING ANYTHING!" Blurted out the little weapons pervert with a blush.

That outburst was so sudden that everyone around the two immediately stared at their direction. Ruby instantly regretted doing that. If you recall back, you would remember that Ruby is not the best in public and gets really uncomfortable when she's by herself. Ruby could feel all those eyes staring into her soul, judging her and ridiculing her like she was under a microscope or something. Heavy was perfectly fine with all these people looking at them since it wouldn't last that long anyway. People simply resumed what they were doing after nothing else happened with the two.

"...I will - huh?" Went the Russian when he noticed Ruby suddenly crumple down and fell to her knees. Ruby did not responded with nothing but whimpering. She looked as pale as a vampire, and that says a lot considering how she's already pretty pale. "Ruby? Get up on feet." Heavy told her while picking her up with one hand where she quickly fell to her knees again. "Why are your legs like jelly? Get up! Davai!" She was shaking in so much anxiety that her legs might as well actually have been jelly for she couldn't stand up by herself.

Rolling his eyes, the Russian let out a sigh and picked her up where she was held like a baby. Heavy carried her outside of the convention hall where he had her sit down at a bench until she could regain control of herself.

"Are you okay yet? Does Heavy need to bring ice cream to make little girl feel better?"

She didn't respond, but Heavy decided to get her some ice cream anyway. He took her away from the convention hall completely and into the nearest ice cream shop. It was a little weird to see a big man like him lug around a small girl like her around, but people otherwise didn't question it. It's the Vytal Festival after all. Weird things are bound to happen, and this is nothing in comparison to what's been going on lately.

"Here. I buy you ice cream. Now make your body stop being stupid." He told her once they sat down in the ice cream shop. Ruby had already regained control over most of her body already, but she was still shaking a little as Heavy saw the moment he passed her a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. When she took it, she wouldn't eat it for some reason and stared at with a grumpy face.

" _I want strawberry..._ " She huffed quietly.

"What? But I buy you this flavor. Is nothing wrong with mint flavor."

" _Strawberry._ " She huffed again.

Heavy sighed again and took the ice cream cone back. Getting a refund for an ice cream cone was kind of stupid and a waste of good ice cream, so he ate it himself while he ordered another cone just for her. "Here is strawberry. Now take it and put in mouth."

This time around, she did start licking the ice cream cone. For a moment, Heavy smiled in the inside when he saw the girl instantly brighten up with a cute smile, but then she immediately replaced it with the familiar stern look she's been giving him and Team Fortress.

"This is why I hate you." She growled.

"...you hate Heavy for wrong ice cream flavor?"

"What? NO! I hate you because you keep embarrassing me! Making my friends and I look bad in front of everyone!"

"Humph, is stupid reason. It was your fault we had to fight." The Russian shrugged, making Ruby growl some more. "I do not want to be enemy with you. I am not a bad man, and I think you are nice girl." She said nothing, but Heavy could already tell that her opinion on him was not changing at all. Ruby only glared at him while taking angry bites of the delicious edible cone. "Look, Heavy does not say this often, but I am sorry for embarrassing you and your team. Do you forgive me?"

"...buy me another ice cream. Waffle cone, and cookies too." She demanded. Heavy gave her a straight face, but he surrendered and bought her yet another strawberry ice cream. If this is what it takes to make her get over it, then so be it. It seemed to be the case too since the girl immediately lost all sense of hostility when Heavy came back with the new waffle cone and fresh cookies, reaching out with her little hands and staring at it with a shining stars in her silver eyes. "Yay! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

When the cone was an inch's reach from her, Heavy held it back. Much to her utter despair.

"Tell Heavy that you will forgive me." The Russian said whilst holding her precious ice cream hostage. Ruby was mortified. How could this man be so hypocritical!? _'I am not a bad man'_ he says, but then he dares to hold her treats back from her. "Say it, or else I will eat all of this."

" **NO!** " She screeched.

Just like in the convention hall, it scared everyone inside the fairly busy ice cream shop and they all stared at her. Ruby was too distressed this time around to notice it though. The distress only got worse when Heavy intentionally held a cookie up to his mouth, slowly. Ruby was starting to sweat in panic, what was she going to do?

"OKAY! FINE! I FORGIVE YOU!" She cried out in sheer desperation.

Heavy smiled, and handed the treats down to her. He didn't even blink when all of a sudden all the treats in his hands were snatched away by a red blur. First he looked at his empty hands, and then at Ruby to see that she was holding the ice cream and cookies close to her as if they were the most precious things in the world. While he was surprised with the incredible speed that was her semblance, Heavy was nonetheless happy that he won. Hopefully, she'd be a friend like how the mercenaries already liked Team JNPR. Speaking of teams, they really got to make the others like them as well, and hopefully that will be easier with Ruby on his side now.

"Come. Let us go look at weapons before gun show closes." Smiled the Russian as he stood up.

Ruby was hesitant to do so, but she went along eventually. As long as she's got her ice cream, cookies, and Crescent Rose, then she's fine with it. The only thing stopping her from being completely happy was that she was with Heavy. So maybe he wasn't a baddie and she did forgive him, but it was because he forced her to. That, and he and his friends are still self-admitted criminals. Ruby will admit that they don't really match what she thinks of when she hears the word 'criminal', but since vigilantes are technically criminals according to Weiss, they still count.

Though she hated to admit it, Heavy actually has been nice to her this whole time, not including the one time he threw her into a diner. Twice. So... maybe they can be friends? Ruby didn't know, but as long as they didn't do any more vigilante stuff then she guessed it was okay.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

Strange things have been happening in Vale for the last couple of days. First, an enormous flash of light blinded the entire city where out of nowhere a White Fang hideout was destroyed promptly after, and then another was attacked the very next night. The whole damn city's in a buzz about some supposed mystery vigilantes who've been the cause of all this. The White Fang was also buzzing like a beehive, except imagine that the entire organization was like beehive thrown into a mixed bag of fear and hatred for whoever's mysteriously targeting them.

On the grand scale of things, these two attacks didn't hurt their operations all that much. Of course, that wasn't the first thing your standard White Fang operative worried about whenever things like this pop up. All they wanted to do was strike back. Get some revenge on the bastards who've done it.

Cinder was well aware that it was only natural for people to feel this way, and that especially goes for the disgruntled members of the White Fang. This organization was already full of Faunus with an intense hatred for Humanity, and so when a group of Humans started killing their comrades, some of them decided to do something about it. As such, Cinder was legitimately a little surprised when a small group of particularly hate filled Fang were about to go firebomb a cafe all on their own. The men they were looking for obviously weren't there, but Cinder could already tell the point of the attack was to lure the vigilantes out. She was fortunate that some of the more loyal members stopped them in time since she specifically told them to not go after the mercenaries until she comes up with something. Otherwise they would've caused some unnecessary complications to the already strange mess that was these past couple of days.

Cinder shook her head in disappointment. She hadn't expected that the Fang would get so angry that they would deliberately disobey her orders. That didn't mean they were not loyal to her anymore. There was no doubt in her mind that they still were, but it did mean that they weren't as obedient as she thought.

Well, she'll just have to come up with something to do with them when she visits the White Fang's main hideout later on tonight. For now, she'll have to return to her dorm room and use this time to get some pesky homework done. Mercury and Emerald were out at the cafeteria grabbing something to eat, and Heaven knows wherever the Hell Neo went. And so she went into her dorm room alone, expecting to find no one where of course there wasn't. The homework wasn't hard, at least to her, but it was still a bother to deal with since it was a waste of time. Well, not a _complete_ waste of time. It's kinda expected that she'll get homework as she _is_ disguised as a student. As such, she didn't really mind all that much so long as it worked in her favor.

While she was doing so, she got a notification on her scroll. It was from Roman. This raised some suspicion from her right away as that man rarely calls her for anything.

"What is it, Roman?"

"Uh... we got someone here who wants to talk to you."


	11. Chapter 11

**MiR V2 Chp. 11 A0**

* * *

 **Vale**

"Bloody Hell, lad! What in the name of the Queen are ye doing with these kids?" Asked Demoman to a smugger than usual Scout.

The Scotsman had been stumbling around the streets looking for somewhere that sold any form of alcoholic beverage to willing patrons. Problem was that any place he did find was so packed with people that Demo didn't want to wait upwards of around like twenty minutes or something just to get a drink. Granted that he could totally just start drinking from his Scrumpy Bottle, but what good would being in a different world be if he didn't try any of the drink it had to offer?

Anyway, he was stumbling around when he happened back on Scout. Who just so happened to have taken over the little charity operation he saw. Demoman immediately knew something was up when he saw Scout with these kids. Scout doesn't just randomly help kids on the street out of the goodness of his heart.

"Sup, Demo! Just showin' the kids here how orphans make money back on Earth! Show him, kids!"

Demoman blinked on in bewilderment as suddenly all eight orphan kids ran up to him and gave him a big group hug. It was a little awkward since all the kids weren't taller than his legs, but Demoman didn't attempt to resist when they surrounded him.

"Hugs? You thought these kids how to hug?"

"Pretty much, yeah! It's like one of those 'hugs for charity' things back home! If it works there, then why not here? Know what I'm saying?" Smiled the Boston Lad towards his Scottish friend, who didn't look as enthusiastic about this as he did suspecting that it was going to fail. "Oh yeah, you got to pay up five bucks for each kid now. That's what, eight kids?"

"Five bucks for each - ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BLOODY MIND!? What kind of mad git would pay that kind of money for this!?" Raved Demoman at this complete fucking scam. Scout didn't seem that bothered by it though as he kept on grinning the way he always did.

"I dunno, but it's for charity pal! Pay up! Come on, don't keep the kids waitin'!"

"Why I ought to beat-"

"KIDS! Don't forget we got kids here!" Said Scout, but then he yelped when Demoman still moved forward as if to sock him the face. Now Scout's no stranger to fighting his own teammates, but that's kinda exactly why he was wary of fighting Demo now of all times. If there's any group of people who're specialists in the field of beating the fuck out of Scout, it was his teammates. That also goes the other way around, but still. The dude didn't want to get his good looks messed up before the ladies started rolling in. "Whoa whoa whoa! Geez, take it easy Demo! I was just jokin', alright? Pay up five bucks and that's it." He said, scooting the kid with the donation box over to Demoman so he could put the money in. The Scotsman hesitated a little, but he eventually gave in and put five bucks into the box. As in he put actual money from Earth and not this world's currency. Scout should've been more specific on that, but does he really care about that?

"Ugh... I still don't see why you're with these bloody kids." Groaned the mildly disgruntled Scotsman. Scout then came up to his side and whispered into his ear.

" _Psst, don't tell the kids this, but it's cuz I'm trynna get some girls, see?_ "

" _What? Are ye serious?"_

" _Yeah! Girls love kids! I seen it with my own damn eyes earlier!"_

Demoman was right. Scout's a silly stupid lad who doesn't know what he's doing half the time. He would've said something about how this wasn't going to work and how Scout was dumb, but then some people started coming in. Specifically, a family of tourists from Mistral with some fine girls who look around Scout's age with them.

"Nice talkin' to ya pal, but SCRAM! You're gonna scare away the customers with your drunken crap..." Said Scout right before pushing Demoman away and joining up with the kids. The Scotsman was this close to giving Scout a donk to the head, but he let it go. He's got some drinks to find anyway.

Scout's a pretty crafty guy if I'm being honest. After he'd seen the orphan kids running a charity stand all by themselves, he went right over to them and convinced these kids that he'll help them out. Technically, he's not lying. He definitely helped them out when he devised a little plan that involved lying and basic scamming. The clever Bostonian son of a gun switched up the charity's whole deal when he had it go from a regular donation from the good of a heart to a 'pay to hug a kid for charity business'. It was working really well. Far better than what the kids had going for them earlier. Though people were already donating to them before Scout came along and spiced things up, they were now lining up by the dozens to give the super cute kids a hug. Scout telling the kids to specifically act extra innocent and cute also didn't hurt.

"Hugs! Hug a freakin' kid for five bucks of whatever money you got!" Yelled out Scout with a smile.

It was a legitimate smile too for he was excited to see that the majority of the people coming in from the streets were women. There were also men and other children who were not orphans coming up to stand, but that was mostly because they got friends or female family members dragging them into the line. However, I feel like I should point out that there were two lines in this scam here. One line for girls that literally said "single pretty ladies", and the other one said "everyone else." The line for 'everyone else' was vastly longer in comparison...

" _Awwwww!~_ How cute!" A girl who appeared to be a regular Human cooed upon it being her turn. "Are you like a helper at this orphanage or something?" She asked politely.

"Please, what kinda question is that? You bet I am! It's hard work takin' care of these kids all day." He smiled while he lied, too confident in himself like he always is. "We're trynna raise up all the money we can to make things easier for the kids, you know?"

"I understand... five lien, right?" She asked with her purse held up.

"For a pretty thing like you? I'll drop it down to two bucks."

"You mean two lien?"

"Whatever. Just two of that stuff if you wanna hug a kid." He shrugged with a smile.

She seemed a little lost on why he was cutting the price down just for her, but she wasn't complaining. The girl happily brought up two lien and gave it to the little girl Scout told to keep track of the money, and now she was faced with the difficult decision on what kid to hug. She was having such a hard time that she ended up standing there for a whole minute. It was here that Scout had an excellent idea he remembered that he tried to pull on Demoman earlier.

"I might've forgot to say this, but you can pay to hug each kid too!"

Welp, that did it for her. There was only eight kids so that meant sixteen lien. She didn't seem bothered that she paid up fourteen lien just to hug a few kids, so she was either a charitable person or just another a ditzy gal caught up in the scam. The scam may or may not have escalated when Scout had one of the kids post up another sign that said 'single pretty ladies' could pay two lien to hug a kid, and another sign was put up specifying that everyone else has got to pay for each kid they hug. So maybe it did escalate when people in the 'everyone else' line got a little mad when it got pretty clear that this was a scam.

"Hey! Why the Hell do we got to pay five lien to hug a kid and they don't?" Some man behind like eight other people in the 'everyone else' line yelled angrily. The other people in that line were murmuring in agreement and were slowly growing in frustration. It only got worse when Scout ignored him to talk to the same girl that just got duped into paying fourteen bucks.

"Yeah, so I'm a pretty nice guy takin' care of these kids and stuff. Wanna check out my muscles?" Grinned the Bostonian Bastard to the mildly impressed girl. He then flexed his horribly unimpressive muscles. "Tell you what, how about you give me your phone number so you and I can meet up some time?"

"Are you going to bring the kids too?" Asked the ditzy girl excitedly.

"Uh... sure!" He smiled, totally oblivious to the angry mob slowly building behind him.

Scout wasn't aware of the situation until one of the kids, a little Faunus boy who was like a fox or something, tugged on the back of his shirt with some fearful urgency. "Mister Scout? I think we have a problem..." The boy said, making Scout lazily turn around to look at him with slight annoyance.

"What is it, kid? Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"Those people are getting really mad at us!" The kid went. Scout's response was to uninterestedly glance over at the increasingly agitated crowd, and to shrug. "What do we do?" Fearful was the kid's expression. The other kids were also starting to get really afraid. They simply didn't know how to react in this situation, and all these angry people were scaring them. Some of the little girls even yelped when a couple men forced their way to the front in a highly aggressive manner.

"We want our money back!" One of the men yelled with the other people in the crowd soon joining him. The kids were beginning to cower behind the flimsy table that was their stand. "Hey! Asshole! I'm talking to you!" The same man shouted towards Scout. The Boston Bruiser's response was to turn around, walk away from the girl he was talking to with a wink, and stand directly in front of this dude with a grin. Behind this angry man was a just as disgruntled crowd of people.

"Listen, buddy. I don't know what you're so mad about! All me and the kids got goin' here is a charity. Either you hug one of the little brats, or not. Choice is all yours. Same goes for the rest of ya! Either hug a kid and pay up, or leave. Simple as that." Shrugged Scout, not showing an inch of fear in front of the crowd.

"Then why's there two lines, huh?" Seethed the man, his fists balling up.

"Oh, that's just cuz I wanna talk to some pretty gals. You know?"

Scout's really done it now. At hearing that he pretty much admitted that this was a scam in front of all their faces, the mob went wild. He soon found himself with dozens of people all up in his face yelling and shouting about getting their money back. The orphans were terrified and they took cover behind the table while Scout attempted to deal with this situation. Which wasn't going well as the mob was backing him up against the very table the orphans were hiding behind, and now they were completely surrounded with no chance of escape.

Other people on the street who had absolutely nothing to do with this gathered around to see what was up now. The commotion at this one stand here was enough to gain the attention of the whole closed street as people from other stands and the people running said stands stared.

"Whoa! Calm down, will ya!? I'm willin' to drop a dollar for everyone else if that'll get ya to calm down!" Which of course it didn't as this only made him look even more scammier and stingier. In a normal situation, Scout would just drop everything and run away. However, this wasn't a normal situation though. Scout was quickly reminded that he's still got those orphans with him, and this only returned to his attention when the kids started screaming.

"Mister Scout! Help!" A boy yelled.

Scout turned around to see that some people have gotten around the table and were trying to snatch their money back from the kids. All eight kids were struggling to protect the donation box from the mob. The only reason why the kids weren't letting them take the money is because they didn't understand why they should. The kids were too young to understand that they were being used by Scout, and they didn't know why they should hand their earnings over to people who gave it to them to begin with. It only got more intense when a woman physically grabbed one of the boys and started shaking him roughly.

"Whoa! Hands off the kid, lady! He's under my protection, ya hear!?" Scout shouted at the woman with legitimate anger in his tone.

The woman glared at Scout and was about to scream something at him until she got a folding chair to the face. It was so surprising that it actually got Scout to flinch back with his eyes wide. One of the other boys decided to stand up and protect his brothers and sisters. Things suddenly got too real when the kid's bravery was rewarded with a slap to the face from the lady.

Something inside Scout was brought up to his mind upon witnessing this. It vaguely reminded him of that one time they had to literally kill Santa Claus (Old Nick who was technically the Australian Santa Claus of Smissmas, but eh) except this was a lot more tame in comparison, but it reminded him of another time. A time years ago, back when he was around the age of these kids here. Even with all the people still yelling and demanding that he give them their money back, Scout couldn't hear them for he was too focused on the kids who were in danger.

For once, screw the girls in a nonsexual way. No way any of them were gonna get with him now...

Back to the boy trying to protect his brothers and sisters, he was an absolute savage as this brave little bastard _STILL_ tried to fight back despite being woefully outmatched by literally everyone else. He didn't need to worry about fighting no more when Scout leaped over the table and basically dropkicked the lady who slapped him into the Shadow Realm. That wasn't all though. There were a couple other people who were getting more physical with the kids than they really should be, and Scout made sure to teach them proper manners by socking the fuck out of them so hard that he knocked them out despite his deceivingly weak appearance. The rest of the crowd only got more wild after that for their anger flared up when Scout showed that he wasn't afraid to fight them, but they quickly shut the fuck up with what Scout did next.

"SCREW ALL OF YOU! TAKE YOUR FREAKIN' MONEY BACK!" He shouted just about when he grabbed the donation box the orphanage was using and threw it out onto the street where it broke into a million pieces. At once did the mob go from angry to excited when they pounced onto the money like sharks attracted to the scent of blood in the water.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Scout had just quietly slipped away with all the kids. He led them a little bit away until he was sure that nobody cared about them anymore. "Geez, people really are animals when it comes to money..." He said to himself while he watched the crowd tear the donation box apart like lions on a dead buffalo.

"B-but what about our money?" Sniffled one the girls.

All the kids were shaken and scared, but they were also afraid of disappointing their friends back at the orphanage that they weren't able to raise any extra money. This little stand of theirs was not sponsored by the orphanage itself as this was something that these innocent kids here organized all by themselves. Seeing all their hard work and money suddenly go down the drain was heartbreaking to them. Despite Scout's reputation as sort of a jerk, he was aware of this as he looked over his shoulder at the saddened kids.

"Heh... what about the money? It ain't nothin' but a bunch of paper anyway..." He chuckled a little. The kids didn't know what was so funny about this, and they tilted their fearful heads in confusion. Scout fully turned around to face them, and now he was smiling again. "I uh... I'm sorry about what happened back there. Just so we're clear, it's not my fault though. It was totally those dumb dopes' fault for not wantin' to pay up..." He chuckled again, but this time he ended it with a sigh. His hand reached into his pocket and out came four stacks of one hundred lien, and gave it to the starry eyed kids. God knows he didn't need this world's money for much anyway. "Go ahead. Take it. Go buy yourselves somethin' nice."

The kids were so unsure about this, that one of the boys spoke up. "But... you just said money-"

"I know what I said! Just... just take the money. I sure as Hell don't need it."

Smiles soon replaced the fear on these kids' faces. Never had they had so much money in their possession at one time! And it was all because of this random stranger who was using them to get ladies! They soon scrammed off with the eager intent to share the money with their friends back at the orphanage, but Scout stopped them before they left. Specifically, they all stopped when Scout called only one of them back. The kid who slammed a chair into that aggressive lady's face earlier.

"What's your name, kid?" Scout asked.

"Me?" Said kid asked, pointing at himself. "My friends call me Monkey."

"Monkey? The Hell kinda name is that?"

"It's just my nickname... my real name is Bobby." Said the kid.

"Bobby..." Echoed Scout, nodding his head up and down slowly. The kids had no idea where he was going with this, and Scout may haven't had a single idea himself. Never before in his life had he done something like this. This kid reminded Scout much of himself even though he wasn't nearly as aggressive as Scout was when he was his age. He had brown hair and light blue eyes just like Scout did, and just as brave too. "Yo... you're pretty cool, Bobby. All you kids are. Any of you ever played baseball before?" He asked, to which the kids answered no since baseball wasn't a sport in this world. Even though this should have been expected, it still made Scout's eyes go wide in horror. How could this world not have baseball!? It's like the greatest sport ever invented in the whole friggin' universe!

"Man, you kids don't know what you're missin' out on! Tell you what, Imma teach you kids how to play ball for absolutely free! No cost at all! Let's go find a park or somethin' and I'll lay down the basics for ya."

The kids had no idea what baseball was, but judging on how nice Scout was being now, how bad could it be? They agreed with his conditions and their naive little minds were actually pretty eager to find out how to play this sport they never heard of before. Although he didn't realize it at first because he was more focused on getting ladies than paying attention to the kids, he found that these kids actually weren't that much different from him when he was a kid. Granted that Scout's childhood was a million times more violent and rough than all of theirs combined was, but still.

It actually made him feel a little good inside that he's helped them out. Something that he wasn't used to.

" _Oh... oh Lord..._ " A familiar Scottish voice slurred, causing Scout and the kids to turn to his right to see Demoman lay knocked out against a wall. He was surprised to say the least since he didn't even notice Demoman was there until just now, and he was left wondering why Demo was here.

"Demo? What are you doin' here?" Asked Scout. Demoman's only answer was to point upwards where there was a big sign. Now Scout can't read all that well, but he can tell enough by the pictures alone that this was some kind of a pub. It didn't take long to piece the story together after that... "Ah... classic Demo... come on, kids. We're takin' him with us."

* * *

 **Mercs' Hideout**

Engineer had been working on his Teleported nonstop ever since the mercenaries came back to their base last night, and he had moved his makeshift workshop of sorts into the loading bay/garage type of area of the factory. Absolutely no progress has been achieved in trying to make a portal back home. He'll admit that the field of dimensional teleportation wasn't exactly something that was covered in his many PhDs, but he was sure that he could do it. Eventually...

He's only spent something like a grand total of seven hours on it and he knew that these things needed a huge investment in time and material. That's how a lot of things back on Earth were invented, and hopefully Engie can aim for the same thing and become one of the greats. Australian geniuses don't count.

The other mercenaries in the base were doing whatever they were doing. Sniper was still on top of the roof because, again, of course the master camper fucking would. Soldier and Pyro were back in a part of the factory that Soldier designated as "Freedom HQ" where he had Pyro help him with his ultimate project. A big ass American flag made out of whatever cloth and rags they can find. Unlike Engineer where pregoress was completely nonexistent, their flag was coming along real nicely. It was still ugly and poorly made, but at least they were getting _something_ done.

So far the factory was clear of any hostiles as nobody had found their place except for random animals like birds and shit, and they cleared out the secret lower levels after unintentionally running in to the Grimm down there in their first encounter with the big bad monsters that are such a big threat in this world. Didn't seem like it down in that weird hidden lab, but okay.

Back to Engineer, the Texan decided to grab a snack before continuing on with his work. A simple walk out to the main hub room of the base was all it took to get to the refrigerator. He grabbed himself a plate of leftover bacon he made this morning and walked right back over to where he was before. His workshop was past Soldier's HQ and so he was able to get a quick look at how the flag was coming along. Here he saw that Pyro was doing most of the work since it liked to knit a lot and Soldier was sorting out the colors of old rags, blankets, and clothes that he found lying about the factory. All of that was probably left behind by homeless folk. Engie didn't really mind at all that Soldier was making a flag since he was well aware Soldier can't live without an American flag hanging somewhere around him. Apparently, that flag painted on the factory wall wasn't good enough for him.

Once Engineer made it to his workshop, he dropped his plate of bacon in sheer shock.

"WHAT IN SAM HILL!?" Shouted the Texan man.

Somehow, a man had snuck into their secret hideout completely undetected. Engineer sure as Hell didn't notice him before, and neither did any of the other mercs here. Even Sniper who was supposed to keep watch on top of the factory didn't call anything in about this man approaching the factory, and that is not something that just anyone can do for that man was like an owl. Immediately, Engineer pulled out his Shotgun and leveled it at the stranger. The stranger himself was standing before the workbench Engie was at, seemingly in the middle of examining the Teleporter right as Engineer came back.

"Don't move a damn muscle, mister." Said Engie seriously, slowly approaching the man.

The man turned around fully and Engineer was able to get a good look at him. He was a tall and thin man with pale skin, and he looked to be about middle-aged. His hair was black and styled into a crew cut, and he had pale green eyes. Also, he was dressed in a gray-blue business suit with a purplish tie and had a briefcase with him. His looks gave him the overall appearance of some kind of businessman. Despite this usually nonthreatening look, Engineer felt oddly uneasy at seeing this stranger.

Speaking of the stranger, he calmly turned around once Engineer had entered the room. He looked completely unfazed at all with the weapon being pointed at him. His green eyes looked over Engineer's entire person over before straightening out his tie.

"Hello, Mister Conagher." Said the man in a rather monotone voice, a slight smile given as greeting. Though his goggles hid his eyes, Engineer's eyes widened up immediately after the man revealed he knew who he was some how.

"Who are you?" The Texan man demanded with his weapons still at the ready.

"Who I am does not concern you, Mister Conagher." He said in his unusual monotone voice. "However, I believe what does matter is the bacon you have dropped. Fortunately, I am so kind as to help you with that." If Engie's eyes were already wide then they might as well be bigger than his goggles now. Somehow, the mysterious man held up the same plate of bacon that Engie dropped! The Texan looked back to the spot where it should have been only to see that it wasn't there at all. "Please lower the weapon Mister Conagher. I am not here to harm you."

Engineer didn't know what to think. He had a feeling right away that there was something off with this strange character, and he was absolutely fucking right when this man magically saved his bacon. Said man laid the bacon by the Teleporter Engineer was working on that was supposed to get them back home where the man also took a moment to examine it further.

"I understand that you are busy at the moment, so I will try to be quick so that you may return to work on your portal back to your world. In short, I am here to offer you and all of Team Fortress a job."

"A job?" Engie asked, lowering his weapon just a little.

"Yes. A job fitting of you mercenaries..." Said the man. "I am aware that you do not trust me nor do you know me. But you have my word that I am one who is more than capable of offering you a worthwhile job."

It was around this point that Engineer noticed that he spoke really strangely. He didn't speak in any sort of recognizable accent, but he had this weird tendency to stress odd parts of words as well as awkwardly changing the pitch of his voice. Regardless, he still came off as ominous enough to make Engie feel uneasy.

"I will offer the job once the team has gathered here in this so called secret base of yours. I do apologize for not coming at a more ideal time for both me and you mercenaries. If I had known that you had come to this world beforehand then this would not have been an issue. Care to call them back here, Mister Conagher? I would bring them myself, but I don't wish for it to be too much of an inconvenience."

"Uh... sure thing, mister..." Engie was still horribly unsure about this man, but he felt like he had to do what he asked anyway. He was gonna have to tell his team about this sooner or later. "Boys, everyone back to base. We got a visitor." Said Engie into the team radio. "Alright, I done what you asked." The stranger had a vibe of creepiness around him. Even when he gave a smile did it make Engie feel a little uncomfortable, and that's not easy to do considering the things he and the mercenaries have been through. The stranger's smile lasted for only a second before it suddenly disappeared and was switched into a blank face as if he just realized something. "What's wrong?"

"...It appears that one of you is in trouble."

* * *

 **Vale**

Spy was still driving his Thunderbird around the city. Vale actually was quite a large city even if it didn't feel like it due to the lack of tall skyscraper like buildings. The size of Vale was about half as big as Tokyo on Earth was, and Spy should know since he's worked around that area before. The stories of him and later his mercenary pals getting lost in the damned city are something else, but thankfully Vale wasn't quite as confusing to navigate as Tokyo was. Traffic was kinda bad since several streets were closed off for festival activities, but there wasn't really a lot of negative things about this city from what he could see. It was clean, well protected, and people were happy. Unless you count the White Fang problem and the Grimm who camp outside the kingdom's defenses all the time, this is apparently one of the more nicer places in the world to live in if Spy's little pamphlet thing was to be believed. The same could be said for the other four kingdoms too since anywhere that wasn't these places was prone to constant bandit and Grimm attack.

He stopped by a cafe to grab some coffee before continuing on. The coffee was alright. It wasn't that much different from your usual variety of coffee found on a cafe back on Earth. Spy preferred something more exquisite, but this will do. It was better quality than the coffee Mann Co. provided them at least. The Frenchman was about to get back in his car when something happened.

Out of fucking nowhere, a battle was happening over on the next block.


	12. Chapter 12

**MiR V2 Chp. 12 A0**

* * *

 **Vale**

Spy didn't know what the Hell was going on here. Exactly three minutes ago did he get his coffee when the city suddenly went to shit with these unknown attackers running amok in the streets. It started down at a bank on the next block not far off from where he was, but then these assholes started spreading out into the streets where they were causing chaos for no good reason. They were shooting their weapons up into the air while people ran, and even caused some property damaged when they smashed some building windows and ruined some cars. The only good thing that could be said about them was that they were not attacking the civilians themselves, only scaring them away from the area. However, they _were_ attacking any VPD and Atlesian squads coming in to try and stop them. From what Spy could see, it wasn't going well for the disorganized first responders and they soon had to retreat under the overwhelming firepower of the robbers.

It looked like looting wasn't the actual intention as it looked more like they were establishing a perimeter in the immediate area of the bank. Seemed like the true purpose of the chaos was to chase all the civilians away so they just wouldn't be here. The looters were simply the low lives among them indulging in their less than reputable activities. Soon the whole block the bank building was on had been taken control of by the unusually large group of men. These guys had some balls if they were bold enough to straight up perform a high profile bank robbery in broad daylight.

" _Boys, everyone back to base. We got a visitor._ " The voice of Engie came over the team radio.

The unusual high profile bank robbery was very interesting and all, but what Engie said about a visitor caused him to shrug it off as that was infinitely more interesting. This bank robbery had nothing to do with him anyway. It's probably best to let the local law enforcement deal with this one since it seemed like Team Fortress had been doing their jobs for them. "Gentlemen, there's some kind of bank robbery happening in the city right now. Nothing that we should concern ourselves with though. I am on my way back to the base." He said into the team radio as he got into his car.

" _On the contrary, Mister Moreau..._ " A voice Spy nor did any of the other mercs recognized save for Engie. " _You will all find that stopping that bank robbery is in your best interests. I guarantee that stopping them will be well worth your_ _time_."

"Who is this!?" Spy demanded.

" _You will see after you deal with this mess. And... do not worry about getting yourselves arrested. I will see to it that it gets taken care of should it come down to that._ "

Spy didn't know what to say. He didn't trust the mysterious voice on the radio one fucking bit, but if this stranger somehow knew their names then he must know some serious shit on them. Only more mysteries for the Frenchman to get a headache over in this new world. In the end, Spy intended on taking his car and leaving like he intended, but then his car wouldn't start for whatever reason. He tried everything he could to get it to work, but nothing helped. Spy cursed to himself at his luck, but then... he sensed something. With no hesitation, he swung his Revolver out and pointed it to the passenger seat. Somehow, there was a man wearing a business suit inside the car with him even though he swore he wasn't there before he got in the car. Like, how is it physically possible for this man to enter the car and sit right next to him without him noticing!?

"Allow me to say it again, Mister Moreau." The stranger spoke in the same unknown voice he heard on the team radio, making his eyes go wide. "Stopping this robbery is well worth your time..."

"W-what?" Stuttered the legitimately surprised and somewhat horrified Frenchman.

Oh yeah, just as mysteriously, the mercenaries left behind at the factory were outside the car. All of them looking like they had no idea how the actual fuck they got here. Engineer, Pyro, Soldier, and Sniper all blinked a couple times before realizing fully that they were not in the factory anymore.

 **...**

Ruby's got to admit, hanging out with Heavy wasn't that bad so far. Granted she was still feeling a bit grumpy due to a leftover grudge towards him and his friends, but Heavy has quickly grown on her with how nice he really is. Not to mention their similar interests in everything that can cause physical harm to a living creature! Weapons! He truly was nothing like how she envisioned a bad guy. Maybe he did fit the big bruiser type cuz he's scary and huge, but he otherwise acted like nothing how she thought a criminal would be like. It made her remember back a couple days to the moments before Team RWBY's first confrontation with Team Fortress. How Blake said vigilantes are sometimes good people who rise up to stop crime when the authorities fail to protect them.

Ruby already kinda realized this beforehand about Team Fortress not being _actual_ bad guys, but it was just her anger towards them which kept her from believing they were evil criminals like the ones she was most familiar with, not these confusing vigilante types who can possibly go both ways. From her time with Heavy thus far, it looked like Team Fortress fell on the good guy side of the scale. However, they did say they were mercenaries though, and she didn't know what to think about that part nor how she felt about it.

Well... now that she was friends with Heavy, maybe the big guy could shed some more light on it as they spend more time together.

Currently, the two of them were still at the gun show where Ruby was trying her damnedest to not get her greedy childish hands on an experimental ice cannon developed by the SDC funnily enough. Heavy was also admiring the weapon too, but he then had someone call him on this weird boxy thing which she guessed was some kind of old radio thing. Whatever the call was didn't last very long as he put the phone away less than a minute after he pulled it out. The Russian man looked as if he was about to say something to his little sidekick before he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Mister Medvedev? A word if you will." A stranger in a business suit said. Ruby had never seen the man before and neither did Heavy, but Ruby noticed that Heavy's eyes widened at the sight of the man as if he was surprised.

"Uh, yes. Ruby, Heavy will be back." The Russian said. He then followed the man to wherever he was leading him off to.

"Huh?" Blinked Ruby. "Oh, uh... okay. Just make sure you come back, and don't do anything bad!"

Heavy didn't say anything in confirmation. Only disappearing among the gun show goers with the man leading him away. Ruby watched the two of them disappeared, and the more she did the more she had a feeling that something wasn't right. As such, our little huntress decided to quietly tail the both of them. She was all sneaky beaky in her silly own way. Her awful stealth skills merely being to quickly tiptoe behind people and weapon exhibits as she followed them. Good thing neither of them turned around to see her being a bad ninja. Anyways, Heavy and the man rounded a corner into a part of the convention hall that was suspiciously devoid of people. Nobody to watch whatever they were about to do...

" _What are you up to?_ " Ruby whispered to herself as she watched them disappear behind the corner. She made it to said corner herself and camped there a little bit to see if she could hear any sort of super secret conversation going on, but there was nothing. In fact, it was eerily quiet. Curious, she gently peaked out the corner...

...and saw a dead end with nobody there. No sign of Heavy or the man or lead him away.

"WHAT!?" She screamed in total disbelief. Frantically, her head shot around at every angle as if she expected to see Heavy on the ceiling/floor/next to her or something, but there was nothing. He was just gone.

 **...**

And now we're at a public park near the center of Vale. This park here was quite a large one, and quite clean at that. The usual and expected sort of sights like statues dedicated to whatever and Human and Faunus people alike were enjoying the park. Among the people enjoying themselves in the park was two of our mercenaries, and their little entourage of orphans that actually shouldn't really be with them. I think this can be considered kidnapping, but hey! At least the Bostonian's teaching them how to play baseball! America's old pastime. It's also that of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela among many others, but come now. It's an all-American deal here.

Anyways, this strange sport that no one in this world has ever seen before has attracted some attention from the park goers. People, whether they be tourists from other kingdoms or citizens of Vale, gathered around to watch what baseball was all about. The orphans were playing a game all by themselves with Scout coaching them on what to do, but the Bostonian himself was listening to the team radio.

"Huh... alright." Shrugged Scout after the radio message ended. He then turned to Demoman who he told the kids to use as home base. "Hey Demo, d'you know who that other guy on the radio was?"

" _Hreeeeeeeh_ _..._ " Slurred the drunken Black Scot.

"Yeah, me neither. Lemme finish this game first, and then we'll go." Scout shrugged again.

While he would love to stop a bank robbery, he's got to teach these baseball to these orphans that they more or less kidnapped unintentionally! Since baseball doesn't exist in this world, there were no baseball diamonds in the park to speak of. That's fine. Scout simply made his own by dragging his Bat across the ground to make the lines and drawing holes in the dirt for bases. So far the kids weren't doing so well. Other than there was not nearly enough of them to play a proper game of baseball, they kept getting confused with the complex orders that the baseball savvy Scout was telling them. They didn't know what fields to go to, what bases for what, and even what direction to even run to.

Still, it didn't seem to matter to any of them that they didn't know how to play. They all ended up enjoying themselves.

"Alright, alright... Listen up and watch me! Any of you ever heard of a homerun? Well Imma 'bout to demonstrate it right freakin' now! Imma knock that ball out of the damn park!" With his signature grin, Scout stepped up to the plate, and tapped the Bat against Demoman's flakvest a couple times before bringing the Bat back up. His pitcher was the same kid who he personally commended for being brave. Bobby, otherwise known by his nickname of "Monkey". Somewhat strange considering he was a Human boy and not a Faunus, but eh. It is how it is.

"Come on, Monkey! Throw that ball like how you threw that freakin' chair at that stupid lady's face earlier!" Encouraged Scout. Perhaps a little too encouraging since the kid went ballistic at being reminded of that lady...

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Raged the boy as he threw an unbelievably fast ball for a kid his age at Scout.

It was surprising, but Scout was ready for it. Keeping that grin that he's known for, Scout reared his Bat back and waited confidently for the ball to be an optimal striking range, and then...

 ***WHAMMO!***

A small shockwave occurred when Scout's Bat made contact with the incoming baseball. The ball might as well have broken the sound barrier as it sailed right out of the park. Hell, it might as well have been knocked out of the city itself! The orphans and the small crowd that had gathered to watch instantly started cheering and yelling in awe of the awesome sight.

"AND IT'S OUTTA HERE!" Whooped Scout in complete victory. He hasn't hit a ball like that in ages. Mostly because it's been a while since he's played baseball, but still. "HOME-FREAKING-RUN, BABY! THAT'S HOW WE DO IT IN BOSTON!" Scout yelled, basking in the glory of the people praising him. Funny... less than 30 minutes ago was he in the complete opposite situation with people hating on him. Now people were coming into the diamond with their kids to see if they could try this sport out for themselves.

"An excellent hit, Mister Charleston." A voice he didn't recognize said from behind him.

"Huh? How the Hell did you know my name?" Blinked a surprised Scout as he turned around to find a man dressed in a business suit and briefcase in hand.

"That is nothing that you should worry about, Mister Charleston. I apologize as I don't mean to interrupt your game of baseball here, but I must have a word with you and Mister DeGroot as soon as possible."

"Uh... alright, I guess. Oh wait, you ain't gonna try and kill us, right? Cuz that's usually what happens when guys say they wanna talk to us."

"No. I assure you that I have no intention of doing so. Now, please pick up Mister DeGroot and follow me. Oh, and you do not have to worry about the orphans."

Being the kind of guy he is, Scout shrugged and did as the man asked. Hoisting Demoman over his back, the Bostonian followed the stranger where they quietly slipped out of the diamond he made while the orphans he's leaving behind were getting ready for a new game with all these new players.

I'm sure they'll do just fine.

 **...**

Mister Black had just finished explaining to Medic what huntsmen among other things when the German got the call on the team radio. Hearing that there was apparently a visitor in the base, he immediately got interested into who it could possibly be. Did Engineer get the Teleporter to home working and he wanted to surprise the others with who he brought back from Earth, or was someone actually crazy enough to break into the factory and get captured by the mercenaries? In any case, Medic politely thanked Mister Black for his time and hastily made his leave. The old man was kind enough to walk Medic out of his estate with his blonde haired rabbit Faunus maid quietly following close by.

"I vill tell my associates of ze job, Mister Black." Said Medic as he shook the old man's hand with a smile.

"Yes, yes. Let me know if they're willing so I can contact the headmaster."

As soon as Medic stepped out the gate of the estate, there was a man in a business suit waiting for him. I think you all know how this goes, so I'm going to skip ahead and say that the stranger took Medic as well because of course he was going to.

* * *

 **Four Minutes After First Contact With The Stranger, A Rooftop Close To The Bank**

"Gentlemen, while I do apologize for the inconvenience, this bank robbery is a matter that is well worth your time." Went the stranger as he addressed the gathered members of Team Fortress. Much like how you readers are probably feeling, the boys had no idea what the actual fuck was going on. They had no idea who this stranger was nor did they no what he wanted of them. Not to mention how they were all still trying to rap their heads around how the stranger was able to gather them all in one place so quickly.

"Uh, question? Where are we?" Asked Medic as he injected Demo with an undrunkifier needle or some shit like that to wake him up.

"A rooftop in the city. You'll find that the bank where your adversaries are is just across the street." Explained the man. Sure enough, the bank with all the baddies locking it down was there as he said it was. "I understand that this may come as... abrupt, but I require you all to rid that bank of its offenders."

"What do we get out of it?" Spy asked with suspicion in his tone.

"Well, a job. Complete the task at hand first and I will fill you in on the details. It is best to not waste time." Finished the stranger. Before any questions could be asked by the horribly confused mercenaries, the man gave a simple nod before vanishing. There was no warning or any effect to indicate that he was going to disappear. Simply no other way to put it other than he disappeared before their very eyes.

The entire team blinked a few times in disbelief, a total loss for words.

...

"Well... looks like we better get to it, boys." Engie said after the moment of unbelieving silence had passed.

The Texan man stepped up to the edge of the roof where he carefully studied the situation, and soon did the others of Team Fortress after they also snapped out of it. Make no mistake. The boys' minds were still blown with the instant teleportation that the man was capable of and how suddenly this task was thrown onto them, but if they wanted any answers to anything then this was the first step to it.

The bank itself was a massive building that took up an entire city block by itself. It was two-stories tall with a large dome on the center building that had skylights shining down into the floors below, and it had a courtyard leading up to the very front entrance of the bank with a flight of stairs leading up into the building itself. So far the situation at the bank wasn't looking all that good. Whoever these well-equipped bank robbers were are doing a Hell of a job locking the building down. All windows and entrances were being barricaded and they were setting up defensive positions at the roof and courtyard. The only places that were left open for possible entry was the main entrance and a few windows that they were leaving open so that they could shoot out of them. It was impossible to tell how many baddies there were exactly, but out in the courtyard and roof alone were there dozens of them combined. That's not even mentioning the single-barreled machine gun turrets they were setting up to aid them in defense of the bank.

As for the baddies themselves, their equipment ranged from anything to assault rifles, shotguns, ballistic vests, helmets, and even rocket launchers. These guys were serious business if they're willing to bring this excessive amount of force just for one bank.

Normally, Team Fortress would've charged in by now and fight their way inside the bank, but that wasn't an option with the law enforcement gathered around the bank already. Due to General Ironwood's precautionary measure of spamming squads of Atlesian soldiers into the city, there was already practically hundreds of Atlesian units set up in a perimeter around the bank. Atlesian Dropships circled around the air either bringing in more squads of soldiers and androids or simply standing by to provide aerial overwatch if things go badly. There were even a few Atlesian Paladins brought in to the area, so that's just more firepower to contend with. The VPD was also here, but they were letting Atlas take the lead on this as they were busy keeping civilians away from the scene.

"Bloody Hell..." Demo cursed at the sight of all they had to get through if they did what they normally do.

"I don't like this, lads. How the Hell are we supposed to stop this bloody robbery? We're outgunned and outnumbered." Growled Sniper as he looked at the fuckery below. He noticed that the robbers were putting up marksman teams up on top of the roof, and he narrowed his eyes on them. Some of the enemy marksmen noticed Team Fortress, but they ignored them for they didn't see them as a threat. They probably thought Team Fortress was a bunch of civilians, but they instead were more concerned with the Atlesian marksmen teams getting setup on other rooftops except for this one. "Wankers probably couldn't hit a headshot if the bloke was standing right in front of them..."

"I have an idea!" Soldier beamed with a nonexistent light bulb over his just as nonexistent brain.

"Hush, Soldier. We're trying to come up with a plan here." Spy waved the American off, but Soldier was being genuine.

"No! I really do have one!"

"Oh yeah? What, we gonna have to go naked, cover ourselves in honey again, and rush in guns blazin'?" Snarked Scout as he was ninety percent sure that was what Soldier was going to say.

"That's actually Plan B, but no! I was going to say that Spy should go in there with a Teleporter, put it down, and _then_ we go naked and kill them all! Only problem is that we don't have any honey..."

"Soldier, that plan is ridicu-... wait. That's actually an excellent idea..." Trailed the Frenchman of the team, the rest of them brightening up to the idea.

* * *

General Ironwood simply cannot believe the surge of public disturbances that have been happening in Vale for the last few days. The White Fang was one thing, but don't these other criminals/vigilantes/robbers understand that this was the worst possible time of year for them to be doing these things? A festival of international peace was being held in Vale and these bastards have to go and rile up the fears and worries in everyone with their reckless disregard for the peace. Do they want the Grimm to come into the city and destroy everything!? The White Fang definitely do, but surely these other criminals don't get the wider effect there actions will have on the city. Grimm have been building up at the borders for a while now ever since trouble involving Roman Torchwick and the White Fang started happening a little over a month ago. The numbers of the Grimm have been growing rapidly with this new wave of public disturbances shaking the city.

The General and Penny Polendina soared through the skies of the city in an Atlesian Dropship full of Atlesian soldiers and AK-200s. Two other Atlesian Dropships flanked the sides carrying a similar compliment of troops. In no time at all, the General's group arrived from Beacon to the site of the latest crime in-progress. An extremely high profile bank robbery where the robbers were both powerful and bold enough to take control of the entire block. He didn't know why they were so willing to engage law enforcement instead of bunkering down inside the bank like any other heisters would, but reports indicated that they do have hostages inside the bank.

As such, there was currently no fighting as law enforcement established a perimeter around the entire block. Nobody wanted to risk any hostages getting killed, and the robbers appeared to be content with keeping their side locked down. General Ironwood's dropship touched down at the Atlas line where a no man's land of about fifteen meters was held between the bank block and where the police were surrounding it from. Further behind the Atlesians was the actual police line where the VPD were holding people back from getting too close.

"General Ironwood, sir!" An Atlesian captain in charge of the forces here gave the General a salute with the General returning it.

"At ease. What is the situation?" Asked the General as he looked towards the bank. There, he could see the enemy themselves as clear as day, watching and waiting for the authorities to take action against them.

"The enemy have fortified the bank, and we are unable to see what is going on in there nor where any of the hostages are."

While Ironwood was speaking with the captain on the situation, Penny patiently stood by the General's side. The robot girl may have been designed with military applications in mind, but she was getting lost and confused with what the General was saying since what to do in a hostage situation wasn't something that was programmed into her. She's much more suited for open combat than for something like this. Suppose it was a good thing that she had the ability to learn and adapt then, but it was still confusing her. Ultimately, she'll just have to memorize how the General deals with the situation for future reference.

Until then, she carefully analyzed the robbers and the bank with her eyes literally scanning the entire place over for enemies. Multiple contacts could be seen holding their position in the courtyard leading into the huge double doors of the bank. She identified several more hostiles on standby behind the pillars of the building, and some of them were even setting up single-barreled turret guns. The roof of the building only held even more enemies, and her scanners even picked up on a few of them peaking out of windows that were left open. Just by looking at them could see that these guys were armed and equipped with military-grade weaponry. Clearly, these guys were absolutely serious business if they were bringing this kind of firepower in.

That was until she saw a new figure on the roof of the bank. At first she thought it was simply another hostile, but then she realized he looked nothing like the others. While the others had a military-like theme to them, this man was simply wearing a sharp suit and balaclava. Intrigued, she focused in on the figure, zooming in with her robotic eyes. Penny didn't what to expect from this new man, but then the man was kind enough to demonstrate what his intentions were. She was... confused, when she saw what he did. The suited man had an ornate dagger in hand when he covered the enemy's mouth and pulled him behind the edge where she couldn't see them. All she could see was the same ornate dagger be raised into the air before plunging back down into presumably the hostile's body. However, she did not see the suited man come back up. It was only the enemy that did with no trace of the suited man being seen anywhere. The hostile picked his weapon back up and disappeared into the roof after that short scuffle.

The robotic girl's face saddened after seeing that. That suited man may have been a civilian trying to play hero. A hero whose story ended in tragedy...

"Attention. This is General Ironwood of the Kingdom of Atlas. We have you completely surrounded." The voice of the General suddenly boomed from a loudspeaker. As with any hostage situation, the authorities were going to try and negotiate first. To ensure that every single one of them could hear the General, his voice was being transmitted on speakers from every Atlesian Armored Car and Dropship around the bank. "Surrender now and you will not be harmed..." ...and so on. There was no response from the other side, but the General kept on trying to talk them down.

While he was doing so, Penny noticed that one of her dearest friends was here.

"Ruby!" Happily cried the robot girl when she saw the red riding hood lookalike at the police line.

Not long after she lost Heavy, the Vale Convention Hall's display monitors had lit up with breaking news reports of what was going on at the bank. Ruby wasted no time in getting here as soon as she could after seeing that.

"Penny!" The girl went as said robo-gal was running to meet her. The VPD officers in charge of keeping the civilians back didn't know why the Atlesians had a little girl with them, but they allowed her to run up to the line since she was with the military. "What's going on?"

"There is a bank robbery happening right now. The General is trying to negotiate with the robbers, but they will not respond to him. There are also hostages inside the bank, and the General does not want to use force in case someone gets hurt. It looks like this siege will last for quite some time..."

Ruby's silver eyes lowered in sadness after hearing that. This was quite the serious incident. The huntress-in-training has been in multiple life-threatening adventures already, but she never felt quite right when she knows that people are in danger. The incidents with Torchwick rampaging in the city with the stolen Atlesian Paladin, and most recently, Team RWBY's failure to stop the White Fang from bringing Grimm into the city.

She was about to say something, but she held her tongue. There wasn't a lot for the poor girl to say here or even do here. The Atlesians sure as Hell weren't going to let her help in any way, and it looked like all she could do was watch and hope for a peaceful ending to this story.

Which I think is too much to ask for...


	13. Chapter 13

**MiR V2 Chp. 13 A0**

* * *

The entirety of Team Fortress save for him remained back on the rooftop where the stranger left them, all ready and waiting for a fight. A fight that will have to wait until Spy was able to pull this mission off successfully. Engineer laid down one side of a Teleporter where he gave Spy the toolbox containing the other side. So simplifying things to the bare minimum, sneaking past the security line was child's play for Spy's invisibility even with him lugging this toolbox with him. He wasn't able to store the toolbox away in his pocket like Engineer could, but he was able to make this work. The only significant problem he encountered with carrying the toolbox around is that he realized the only sure way he had of getting into the bank was through the roof. Any windows and entrances that were left open were too heavily stuffed with enemies for him to risk going in them.

He mentally cursed at the situation as he waited in a corner for his Cloak and Dagger to recharge, but it couldn't be helped. Sighing, he pulled out some rope he always keeps on him and strapped the toolbox to his back as best he could. Once he was sure that it was secure enough that it wouldn't drop both him and it back down to the ground, he began the climb up the side of the two-story building. It was mighty difficult, but after a painstaking ten minute invisible climb with a heavy ass toolbox on his back, he was able to get to the roof. This was far from the end of the mission though as there was several enemies on the roof he had to sneak past.

There was no doubt even more enemies within the bank itself, and Spy knew he couldn't completely rely on his invisibility to keep him safe from detection. So, what else to do than disguise as one of the enemy marksmen on the roof? There was actually one only ten feet away from him, and he was busy keeping his eyes on the streets. In fact, all the enemies on the roof were for they were believed the roof was completely secure. Time for an easy kill then...

This was where the scene of Penny witnessing the unknown man in the suit "failing" to kill the enemy on the roof. Unbeknownst to Penny, that supposed civilian trying to be a hero was actually Spy, and he was very much still alive. He simply pulled the enemy marksman down behind the ledge where nobody could've seen him get the Your Eternal Reward stabbed right into his throat without mercy. It was so quick that the man didn't even know he was killed when the last thing he saw was Spy disguising as him, and then the world went dark as his corpse turned invisible.

Right then, Spy was disguised as a man in a boonie hat, ballistic vest, and combat clothes all in a white and grey urban camo coloration. He picked up the dead man's sniper rifle and loosened the toolbox off of his back. The other marksmen on the roof were completely unaware of what had just happened, and so Spy was free to quietly hurry into the roof entrance where he was now inside the building. There was two things about this disguise that he was worried about: if the enemy will get suspicious as to why one of their snipers is down here, and why he was carrying a toolbox with him.

The simple solution to this was to get another disguise before the enemy started asking questions. Which might be what he has to do when he bumped into an enemy at the bottom of the stairs. The enemy guy happened to be heading up to the roof right when Spy was coming down it.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Said the enemy.

"I gotta take a piss, man." Answered Spy with his disguised voice. "Mind taking my spot for a bit?"

"Ah, okay. Got it." The man nodded and stepped aside for Spy to pass.

He returned the nod and hastily continued down into the second floor of the building. Spy was just glad that the man didn't question why he carrying a toolbox with him, but that issue may come up again now that he was right under their noses. He had no knowledge of the layout of the bank, but that was alright. All he had to do was fine a spot hidden away from any enemies for him to set up the Teleporter. The second floor didn't seem like it would be the place for a spot like that since there was too many enemies running around, and so he decided to check out the first floor to see if it was any good.

Spy found himself at what was clearly the main lobby room of the bank, and he could see the front entrance leading into the courtyard outside. From here he could here the voice of General Ironwood being blared out of loudspeakers, trying to talk the robbers down out of this. It wasn't working in any way whatsoever, but speaking of robbers, Spy noticed something was very off about these guys. When he passed by a couple of them, he swore he heard some of them speaking languages from Earth. To name a few languages he recognized, he heard some guys speaking in Italian, his native French, Russian, and even fucking Filipino of all things. It shocked him to say the least that these men were possibly from Earth just like him and his friends, but then he remembered that people in this world spoke English. So if English was a language that existed here, then there was no reason to assume that other Earth languages wouldn't be here as well, right? Thankfully, all the enemies spoke English regardless of what other language they spoke. Simply sounded like they were speaking their native language to others like them.

Anyways, back to Spy and his quest, the first floor didn't look much more promising than the second floor was. He had no idea how many enemies there were or why they even bothered to come in this large of numbers just for a bank robbery, but goddamn were they making it hard for him to find a secret place.

Well, considering how he said the dude up above that he was going to the restroom, he might as well check the bathroom to see if it was any good. If not the bathroom, then he'd just have to keep looking for somewhere secure. While he was exploring the first floor, Spy noticed the enemy did blow open the heavy metal vault door leading into the lower levels of the bank, and he wondered if he should push his luck and go down there. Maybe not setting the Teleporter up in the vault itself since there was no doubt dudes swarming all over whatever goodies are down there, but in a maintenance room or something like that. Fate will tell if it will come down to that, as Spy had just reached the doors to the restrooms.

"Hey, you." Someone called to Spy, making him turn around to see an enemy wearing a beret and grey equipment. "Why aren't you on the roof?" Based on the militaristic nature of these guys, Spy assumed this man was some kind of officer.

"I'm heading into the bathroom, sir." He answered, nodding towards the restroom door he was about to open.

"What's with the toolbox?"

"This? Oh this is just extra ammo I got to take somewhere."

"Take into the bathroom?" The officer asked suspiciously, raising a brow.

"No. Got to take it to the guys in the courtyard after I'm done... you know. With the bathroom." Answered the disguised Frenchman. Spy was beginning to sense that this officer was not falling for it, and so he decided to go into the restroom where he hoped the officer would follow him in.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you, damnit!" Angrily said the officer as he did just as Spy hoped. He entered the restroom, and said "Did you hear me, you-" ***SHINK***. Spy dealt him a hand of death with a quick slash to the throat with the Your Eternal Reward. The officer covered his throat as if he hoped to stop the blood from leaking out of the cut Spy had made, and he attempted to reach for his pistol when Spy pulled him in and finished him off by stabbing him repeatedly until there was no chance that he was still alive.

"C'est la vie..." Shrugged the Frenchman in his normal voice as he watched the officer's body turn invisible and he disguised as him. The Your Eternal Reward... a magical weapon that allowed the user to disguise as people they killed while conveniently turning the victim's corpse invisible.

Now that Spy was alone in the restroom, he turned around to make sure that there was no one...

"... Merde." He cursed in the voice of the officer, his jaw dropping a little.

This rather large restroom was stuffed to the brim with civilians. All of them tied up and gagged. They were hostages, and they appeared to be everything from bank workers to security guards and even random people who happened to be doing stuff in the bank when the robbery began. The hostages appeared to be just as shocked as him for this was definitely far from a normal day. First they get taken hostage by a bunch of almost military-like guys, and now they just witnessed one of them killing an officer and somehow turning _into_ said officer!

Well... the one thing that was good about the restroom is that was clear of any enemies. The only issue being all the civilians in here...

"Hmrmhn?" A young women who appeared to be a clerk here muffled from her gag. A confused muffle.

Sighing to himself, Spy dropped his disguise and revealed his true form to the hostages. He scratched his head a bit since this was not expected at all. Rescuing hostages wasn't part of the task the stranger gave his team. All Team Fortress had to was stop the bank robbery, but it was far more preferable to _**not**_ have them here when Team Fortress engages the enemies here.

"Do not be afraid. I am here-" He stopped short when the restroom door suddenly opened.

The door stopped halfway from opening since the invisible body of the dead officer was blocking the way, but then the person on the other side forced it open. It was unsurprisingly another enemy, and he was apparently the dude assigned to watch over the hostages. He was carrying water bottles for some reason. Probably to give to the hostages.

"I'm back - GAH!" He yelped when Spy pulled him and started choking him in a headlock, dropping all the water bottles.

The enemy gasped for air and struggled all he can to get Spy off of him, throwing his arms around in an attempt to knock Spy off. It was all useless, and soon he didn't have to worry about anything anymore when the Frenchman broke his neck with a sickening _SNAP_ noise. The already shocked civilians let out muffled gasps of horror at the sight of such violence, some of the few children there even beginning to cry a little.

"Someone calm those kids down..." Spy said as he got out a cigarette. He needed one after the stress sneaking in here alone has caused him. "Do not be afraid. I am here to help."

The hostages instantly brightened up at hearing that rescue was here, but though they were gagged and were unable to say anything, they wondered how exactly this one guy was supposed to save all of them. "Engineer, what is your status?" Spy said into the team radio.

"Those soldier boys came up here and told us to get off the roof." The voice of the Texan came over from the other side. "We're waiting in an alley a block away. Did you find a place yet? We're gettin' mighty tired waiting around over here..."

"Oui, I have. But we have run into a problem..." Trailed the Frenchman as he laid the Teleporter down. The Teleporter was built beforehand, and it was unfolding itself really quickly. The hostages stared in wonder of the strange device as they had never seen anything like it before, even hopping a little back in fright as it began spinning and glowing.

"Huh?"

"Do not use the Teleporter yet. I am getting the hostages out of here first." Without another word, Spy went up to the hostages with his ornate knife out and began cutting them free.

 **...**

"Hostages? What?" Engie said to himself before he saw what Spy meant. The Teleporter activated itself, and unexpectedly, several random civilians started appearing. "Oh! Hostages!"

"Bloody Hell! Where are all these people coming from?" Wondered Demo as the hostages started fanning out with many more coming out of the Teleporter. Spy apparently found where the hostages were being kept and decided to evacuate them.

The people didn't understand what the Hell the device they walked on was, but they were nonetheless thankful to the gods to find that walking through the Teleporter has taken them to safety. On the mercenary end of things, they didn't expect Spy to be saving any hostages, but they also didn't know there were hostages in general. They thought all they had to do was clear the bank and stop the robbery, but this was alright to them as well. Weren't too much else to do then hurrying up with getting these people out of here so they can get to the killing, and so the boys were guiding the happy overjoyed hostages to the side.

"Everyone be calm and come here." Heavy told them as they kept on funneling through.

"Yeah, yeah, take it easy folks. You're safe now..." Scout said as he helped guide them.

"Oh, thank the gods! Thank you for saving us!" Shouted a pretty young woman who appeared to be a cat Faunus complete with ears and tail. The happy young woman then threw her arms around Scout to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making the Boston Boy blush. First kiss in this world and he didn't even get a date yet!

It wasn't just this one woman who expressed her endless gratitude, but all the hostages were practically throwing themselves onto the mercenaries to thank them for saving their lives. They were so happy that they didn't even bother to question why they were in an alley with no law enforcement anywhere nearby. The praise felt strange to the boys. These people were treating them as if they were heroes and not the horrible bunch of degenerates that nearly everyone back home on Earth did. It was just... different.

Anyways, people stopped coming through the Teleporter and now it was clear for the mercs to use. While the mercs would've loved to stay and chat with them, they quickly funneled into the Teleporter before the freed hostages could continue to bombard them with their thanks and ask questions.

The Teleporter then self-destructed after the last of them had gotten through.

 **...**

It took a good five minutes to get all of those people out of there and for the rest of Team Fortress to come in.

"Huh, why is zer so many corpses?" Asked Medic, looking at the pile of eight or so bodies of dead enemies Spy was using to block the door to the restroom. E

"They were getting suspicious." Plainly answered the Frenchman as he let took a drag out of his cigarette, letting some smoke out afterwards. "I can hear them scrambling around like rats outside. If it had taken you any longer to get her, they would have broken in by now..." Trailed the Frenchman as someone on the other side of the door attempted to knock it down with a loud thumping noise.

"So... we gonna do this?" Asked Scout with a grin forming on his face, his Scattergun ready to spit some shells into fools.

"Yes, but we don't have any honey!" Cried Soldier. "Men! Our plan has failed!"

"No it didn't, you bloody idiot..." Scoffed Sniper as he checked his SMG to make sure it was ready for a fight. "We never agreed to the honey part, and you're perfectly good at killing without the damn stuff."

"Oh... YOU'RE RIGHT! I AM AN AMERICAN KILLING MACHINE WITH OR WITHOUT HONEY!"

Team Fortress was all inside the bank now. Admittedly, getting cramped into a restroom wasn't exactly the most glorious of ways to start off a battle, but that was fine to the team. All that mattered in the end is if they get the job done. The team readied their weapons and prepared for battle as voices on the other side threatened to break down the door and even start shooting if it wasn't opened. The enemies thought it was still only the hostages in here, and so they believed that they somehow got free and are now blocking the door.

Oh... how wrong they were...

 **...**

"YOU HAVE UNTIL WE COUNT TO FIVE TO OPEN THAT FUCKING DOOR OR ELSE WE WILL SHOOT!" Shouted an enemy officer. There was ten of them including himself surrounding the door with their guns pointed at it.

They weren't actually going to kill the hostages since having them alive meant that the authorities outside won't try a damn thing lest they hurt them, they were perfectly fine with using obsessive force to get them to know who's boss around here.

"Fuck it... bust that door down."

"Yes - **ARHGGH**!"

Out of nowhere, a hellstorm of bullets spewed forth from the door and utterly ripped anyone in front of it to shreds. The guys standing directly in front of the door was turned into bloody Swiss cheese while the officer and several others got their limbs blown off among other grisly details. Any of the enemies who were caught off guard and survived scrambled away for cover as the door was blown open. Out of that door came a huge man who was glowing and fluctuating red, and he had bright yellow eyes. The man let out a monstrous roar of a battle cry as he mowed down anyone who moved with his massive Minigun.

"HOLY SHIT! WE NEED HELP DOWN HERE! NOW!"

This attack was so sudden and unexpected that dozens of enemies were killed before they had a chance to even fight back. Any turrets set up inside the bank and anyone else who was not killed outright by the sudden attack scrambled to return fire onto Heavy.

"TAKE HIM DOWN! TAKE HIM DOWN GODDAMNIT!"

They threw everything at him, and everything wasn't working. Rockets, bullets, grenades, nails, and even a couple handheld laser weapons were all useless against the Ubercharged Heavy. The enemy looked on in terror as the Russian beast was nigh invulnerable to attack and the murderous fire rate of his Minigun continued to echo through the halls of the bank. It got so bad that they were forced to take cover and even retreat a little bit.

Heavy's invincibility did not last for long as the Ubercharge soon ended, but that didn't give the enemies much hope when eight more attackers appeared from behind him. The enemy had no idea who these guys were, but Team Fortress was storming into the bank with the fury of Hell.

Even with the spearhead of the Ubercharged Heavy down, the spearhead was simply replaced with Medic's Medishield where all forms of attack splattered uselessly against the energy shield. Soldier and Demoman quickly got to work taking out the enemy turrets while they were protected, and Engineer quickly put down a Level 3 Sentry Gun to provide a much needed edge in firepower against their opponents.

Once the Sentry was built and the enemy turrets were destroyed, there wasn't a lot stopping Team Fortress from slaughtering their confused and scattered enemies. Hell, the boys even terrified them with the ferociousness and fury of their attack combined with how they seemingly came out of nowhere. The terror only grew as Team Fortress cut them down from where they thought they were most safe from attack.

The mercs split into groups to clear out the bank of the enemy. Heavy, Medic, and Engineer stayed in the lobby room. Soldier, Demoman, and Pyro went upstairs to clear out the second floor. Scout, Sniper, and Spy went up to the roof to kill all the guys up there. The room leading into the vault where there was undoubtedly more enemies will be saved for last. Unless they also came up to fight, then they'd be killed here and now as well.

The mercenaries didn't know how many enemies there were, but goddamn did they kill a whole bunch of them in the opening two minutes of the battle alone. That's the beauty of a surprise attack, especially one from where the enemy least expected it. Like literally in the middle of their fort without any warning or mercy! Seriously, the enemy was so surprised and disorganized that they struggled to form up to mount a successful defense against Team Fortress. What's worse is that they were so confused, that the guys who had no idea what was going on thought they were under attack by the authorities and they opened fire on the Atlesians outside.

Team Fortress couldn't see what was going on outside, but the courtyard sounded like a warzone as the Atlesians and robbers started battling. Then again, the entire damn bank was a warzone at this point...

 **...**

Everyone be they civilian bystanders at the police line or Atlesian personnel laying siege to the bank were in shock to hear the sounds of violence come from the bank. General Ironwood and his forces tensed up as they feared that the robbers were making some kind of push to escape the bank, or worse, killing civilians. The former feat appeared to be a reality when the robbers suddenly opened fire on the Atlesians without any provocation.

"All units return fire, but do not use any explosive weaponry! We cannot risk harming the hostages!" Barked Ironwood to his troops as he still believed that there were civilians inside the building.

While the Atlesian forces went in full battle mode against these unusually militaristic bank robbers, the people at the police line were shocked to say the least. Both VPD officers and civilians looked on in awe, gasps escaping out of some of their mouths.

"Oh dust..." Ruby softly said in horror. Things took a violent turn after all...

 **...**

"Heads up you wankers!" Shouted Sniper as he threw a jar of Jarate on a squad of guys coming down the stairs.

The glass jar of literal piss smashed against the face of the first guy coming down where the golden liquid then splattered itself gloriously onto the guys behind him. As per usual for anyone covered in Jarate, they were disgusted and shocked before quickly getting cut down by gunfire from the Australian and his fellow mercenaries. Once they reached the second floor, they split up into the two groups said above where they were going to clear out their respective areas.

Let's follow Spy's group on this one as they headed for the roof. They faced little to no resistance other than a couple enemies rushing downstairs to see what was up where Scout was quick to take care of them. With his usual grin, the Bostonian pointed the double-barrels of his Scattergun up to one of the guys coming downstairs where he fired once. The pellets tore right into his body and killed him near instantly where the other couple of guys behind him took aim at Scout. Sniper blew the head off of the dude at the very back before he could his brain could even consider pulling the trigger, and Scout used his Bat to knock the gun out of the last guy's hands where he beat him to death.

Confirming that they were dead, the mercenaries continued up to the roof entrance where they stopped and paused.

The rooftop was full of those Atlesian Android things they've seen patrolling around the city and they were engaging the guys up here. Even more of them were being dropped in from Atlesian Dropships flying overhead, and the Dropships themselves were strafing the enemy with their autocannons. The enemies were fighting off the easily beatable androids without too much trouble considering how they had turrets up here as well supporting them, and they were attempting to fend off the Dropships with rocket launchers. They were also shooting down at any Atlesians below, and the marksmen up here were returning fire towards their Atlesian counterparts who were sniping at them.

"Eh, I'd say we let the military deal with this. They got those bloody bladeless helicopter things up there." Shrugged Sniper. The last of the Atlesian Knights had been destroyed by now, and it looked like no more were going to be dropped onto the roof.

"Yes. Wouldn't want to risk them knowing what we look like..." Spy mused, then he got out his Revolver and dropped an enemy who was about to fire a rocket at a Dropship. "It also wouldn't hurt to help them as well." Grinned Spy as he continued placing careful shots on targets on the roof.

"Really? Hehehe... I like the way you think, mate. How about whoever kills more blokes buys the other a beer, eh?" Cackled the Australian sharpshooter as he aimed his Sniper Rifle at the nearest bloke and fired. Spy shook his head, but he nonetheless kept shooting.

"Eh, you guys deal with this. I'll head back down with the others." Scout said before going back down the stairs, leaving Sniper and Spy to pick off the enemies up here at their leisure.

As long as they stayed in the cover of the roof entrance, there was no way the Atlesian Dropships above could see them. Round after round was fired out of the weapons of the two mercs as they relentlessly picked off the enemy who had no idea where they were getting attacked from. Sniper in particular focused on killing the enemy marksmen since he knew they were shit at sniping, and Spy focused on killing whoever else was up here. After they've killed a sufficient amount of enemies, they ducked back into the building where they will leave the Atlesians to finish them off.

But then they changed their minds with what happened next.

"Wait... listen..." Spy said to Sniper. On the bodies of the guys they killed on the way up here, they could hear a radio transmission coming from whoever is in command of these guys.

"WE ARE PULLING OUT! ALL UNITS RETREAT TO THE VAULT SO WE CAN GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Sniper and Spy looked to each other. With the order given out to retreat, that meant that all the guys left on the roof were going to come down the stairs. Nodding to each other, both men reloaded their weapons. The Revolver had got fresh rounds in it, and Sniper's SMG got a full magazine of bullets. They did not need to wait long for the enemies to come down into the stairs. Long story short, they all rushed down the stairs only to find death, sprayed down by the two mercenaries waiting for them to come down there.

Down with Soldier's group, Scout had just joined them as they were facing intense resistance from the last bunch of enemies up here. The enemy had gotten over their initial confusion by now and were mounting a defense against the attacking mercenaries. The halls and offices of the bank were turned into a fierce close quarters battlefield as the mercs pushed to wipe them out.

"THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I HAD HONEY AND WAS NAKED!" Manically laughed Soldier as he savagely beat a man's face in with his fists before throwing him out the window.

"Shut yer mouth and keep killing the bloody bastards, mate!" Shouted Demoman as he hid behind cover with Pyro.

There was an enemy turret focusing in on them down the hall, and there was a squad of enemies advancing forward with the intent of pushing the mercenaries back. Of course, the mercs weren't going to let them follow through with that stupid fucking idea when Demoman fired some pills out of his Grenade Launcher down the hall. The use of the explosive devices in such tight spaces was horribly effective as some enemies were blown to bloody bits with other being horribly injured, and the best part was that the turret at the end of the hall was destroyed in the explosion as well. Seeing its chance, Pyro threw out the Gas Passer where it covered the entire hallway in gasoline. With an almost demonic sounding laugh emanating from under its gas mask, Pyro got its Flamethrower out and lit the hall on fire with an inferno of flame spiraling down it.

The agonized screams of those burning alive were music to the Pyromaniac's ears.

At this point, the enemy literally had their backs to the wall as this was the very end of this wing of the bank. It was either they face both the Atlesians shooting at them from the windows and the bloodthirsty mercenaries coming after them from inside, or they could surrender.

"STOP! Stop! For the love of God, stop! We surrender!" An officer cried with his hands up, some of his men dropping their weapons and joining him. Surrendering was a horrible idea. These bastards tried to kill them, and Team Fortress was not going to let them get away with that.

"Surrender, huh? Why don't you surrender to THIS!" The officer watched in terror as Scout ran up to him with his Bat reared as far back as he can go, and then he smashed it against the officer's face so hard that he slammed back into the wall with enough force to crack it.

The other enemies looked on in terror as the other mercenaries came over to mercilessly kill them in their own special ways. Soldier pounced on a couple of them and snapped their necks with the fury of America, Pyro butchered them with its Fire Axe, Scout simply got his Pistol out and was executing them one by one, and Demoman chopped their heads off with Eyelander who reveled in delight at the fresh heads.

With these guys dead, the second floor of the bank was cleared.

The first floor was also pretty much clear at this point. Since the corridor leading into the vault was connected to the lobby room, all the enemy forces came into the lobby only to find murderous gunfire waiting for them. All hopes of a retreat were dashed when every single person who ran in here was turned into a hole-filled corpse by Engineer's Sentry Gun and Heavy's Minigun.

Team Fortress gathered in the corpse-filled main lobby where Spy and Sniper came rushing down the stairs.

"Into the vault, gentlemen! There is more of them down there!" Spy yelled as he and Sniper wasted no time in heading into the vault. The rest of Team Fortress followed soon after.


	14. Chapter 14

**MiR V2 Chp. 14 A0**

* * *

Team Fortress rushed into the vault of the bank where they discovered that the blown open metal door was only the beginning of a labyrinthine like lower level where the goodies of the bank were stored. Things like deposit boxes were the closest to the vault entrance stacked in a maze of long rows and shelves, and strangely the low lives among the robbers hadn't broken into them for whatever reason. Past the deposit boxes was a long corridor leading into a second damn vault where the infinitely more valuable stuff in the bank was kept.

No doubt the remaining enemies are down there, but the Team did wonder how come they hadn't faced any resistance yet. As a matter of fact, why are is the enemy even gathering down here? The commander said they were pulling out of here in the vault to leave, but unless they had a secret tunnel or some shit in the vault then they are fucking screwed once Team Fortress got down there.

" _Hurry up! Let's get the Hell out of here!"_ They heard someone's shouting voice echo from down the corridor. The sounds of other men shouting things to each other were audible now, and it wouldn't be too long before the mercs was right on top of them. Noticeably though, the team also heard strange whirring sounds coming from the direction of the shouting. Not like the whirring of them setting up one of their defensive turrets, but almost as if it was energy being surged around or something like that.

So the team reached the end of the hall where they expected to get shot at, but there was no one defending here. There was just another large vault door that had a hole cut into it that was big enough for two men to fit through. Judging by the black scorch marks on the outside of the vault, explosives didn't work quite as well as it did with the initial vault door.

The enemy was **definitely** in there this time, so the team stacked up by the side of the hole cut in the vault door and got ready to go in. The sounds of explosions can be heard from within while they did so, but something wasn't right. They no longer heard the sounds of men even though they were practically right next to them. In fact, there was no sound in the vault at all after the explosions. Maybe they blew a hole somewhere to escape, but Team Fortress didn't give a flying fuck about the possibilities as they stormed furiously into the vault with their weapons at the ready, only to find...

...nobody.

"What the!? Where the Hell did they go?" Scout scratched his head in confusion at the empty vault.

In fact, the entire team was confused. There was nothing in here but a lot of gold and dust that was clearly being moved around before they got here. Unless the guys were magically hiding underneath the riches and shit, then there's no possible place in this entire vault where they could be hiding. There were no obvious signs of any tunneling or the like anywhere on the walls of the vault. The only unusual thing in here was a sparking mess of destroyed machinery in the center of the vault room. It's impossible to tell what the machine was before it was destroyed, but it was likely that this was the source of the explosion sounds. And with that in mind, it mostly likely had something to do with the whereabouts of the escaped bank robbers.

"Damn it! They got away, boys!" Cried Soldier in despair as he really wanted to finish them off in the name of the country he loved so much.

"Ah shucks... well, I'm gonna have to build us a Teleporter. Damn cops will be here any second now..." Sighed the Texan of the team as he pulled out the toolbox containing the emergency Teleporter. While he was laying the thing down, Pyro was exploring the fault when it noticed that one of the bank robbers left their weapon here in their haste to escape.

"Hmphm?" Went the Pyromaniac as it picked up the weapon. It fiddled around with the thing for a bit before nudging Spy's arm for his opinion on it. "Rhmpmh, hpmhhm phmgh?" It asked the Frenchman.

"Hmm? What of it? It's just a... _wait a second_..." Trailed the Frenchman as he looked at the weapon. He didn't really pay that much attention to the detail of the enemy's weapons since he was more focused on killing them, all of them were to be honest, but now that combat was over with he could stop and look at them. His eyes widened once he realized what the gun was, and only even more when he read the serial numbers on it. "Mon Dieu..."

"Come on fellas! Teleporter's up! We gotta get moving!" Shouted Engie right as Scout went into the Teleporter first. The whole team soon filed in the Teleporter in less than thirty seconds, and not a moment too soon as Atlesian forces were already entering the bank.

* * *

 **Mercs' Hideout**

The team's all back at their base now thanks to the use of the emergency Teleporter. First time they got to use it too! The other end of this Teleporter was set in the middle of the main factory floor room, and the team was greeted to the somewhat unsurprising sight of the mysterious stranger waiting for them. The dude was watching the news coverage of the bank robbery as they returned.

"Excellent work, gentlemen. Though some of them have escaped and with some goods no less, you've done a fine job in stopping your newest opponents. In fact, I am impressed that you managed to do so without the authorities ever realizing you were there." Said the stranger as the team gathered around him, ready for this man to finally explain some things that they really wanted answers to. The stranger straightened out his tie and faced the dangerous mercenaries with a slight smile. "

"Those guys? Pffft, they ain't so hard to deal with." Grinned Scout.

"Rather... I should have said that they are the first of many new opponents you will be facing. That is if you take the job of course. As I am sure that you are already aware, those men you faced are no ordinary bank robbers..."

"Oui, I'm well aware of this and I am sure that the rest of my team is as well..." Trailed the Frenchman as he held the weapon Pyro handed him. The stranger looked at the weapon without much reaction to it, but the rest of the team appeared to be somewhat interested in it. "Unless this is a very unlikely coincidence, this weapon does not belong in this world." He said as held up a Soviet made AKM, a modernized version of the legendary AK-47 of Earth. The only reason why Spy knew the weapon was made by Soviets and not by any fucko on Remnant was that the weapon still had its manufacture markings written in Russian Cyrillic.

"And you would be correct, Mister Moreau. Much like that weapon you are holding and yourselves, the men you've just faced are also not of this world. Gentlemen, they are from your Earth." He let that sink in with the boys first before continuing on, watching the surprised reactions on each and every one of their faces while he himself had no emotion to them."Just like you, they are mercenaries. An entire company of mercenaries to be precise. A company that you've almost completely wiped out in one swift unexpected attack."

"You mean like a business kind of company or like a military one?" Asked Sniper. "Just wanna make sure, mate."

"The military version of a company, yes. I believe the company you just faced had a total of sixty men in it. However, you would not be incorrect to think that they are part of an 'organization' of sorts, so to speak, and they have crossed into this world from Earth and well... their intent in this world is not good to put it in simple terms."

"Well... supposin' that they most likely spent billions of dollars on interdimensional travel, then I got a feeling that robbing banks ain't the only thing they want to do here. Ain't nobody carrying that much firepower's gonna travel to another world just to rob a bank." Engie reasoned.

"I must admit, gentlemen, that your presence in this world came as quite a surprise. While I do not know how you traveled across dimensions to this world, I will say that it has made my job significantly easier. Under normal circumstances, I would have contracted the services of the locals of this world to deal with-"

Right before the stranger could continue, a couple flashes of light popped up into the room that startled the mercenaries and even the stranger. It startled them mainly because they appeared to be portals, brief portals, but portals nonetheless. These portals dropped some things into the factory. Among these items were living creatures, an oddly familiar red farm truck with crates in the back, and a small bag.

What was stupefying was that the truck was actually that one farm truck with the RED logo on it. They haven't seen this truck since before they were fired by Gray Mann months ago. Oh, and the bag turned out to be just full of candy and that's it. Weirdly random...

And as for those living creatures that were mentioned? They were not just any random creatures too for things just so happened to be ones that the team knew. Why, it was none other than a familiar pack of white pigeons associated with a certain mad scientist who may or may not be a member of the team...

Medic's own flock of doves!

"Archimedes!?" Cried Medic in astonishment at seeing that somehow Archimedes along with his flock of doves suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That's actually pretty much it for the living creatures. I mean, it is a flock of multiple doves.

The team looked shock to see that these portals and shit were appearing, but the stranger's typically emotionless face looked legitimately surprised that this was happening. In fact, he looked almost as if he was getting a little irritated at the sight of the portals. Seeing the stranger display some actual emotion was even more surprising to Team Fortress. The gang knew him for less than an hour, but they were already beginning to notice that the lack of emotions was a recurring theme with this guy. He doesn't display much in the way of even basic Human emotion no matter what, and the few times he does attempt to show any emotion is near unsettling. It's doubtful that he's even Human if his supernatural abilities are anything to go by. However, if the appearance of these portals was enough to get him to show some anger then this may be a bad thing.

"Gentlemen, allow me to get to the point. Your job is simply to prevent these mercenaries from meddling around in this world as well as follow any other task I may give you. That is all you need to know for now." He continued with all seriousness towards the mercs, even if Medic was getting swarmed with love by his doves at the moment.

"And how the Hell are we supposed to do that?" Engie asked. "No offense mister, but this is a mighty big job you're givin' us here. We're gonna have a lot to handle if we take it."

"Speaking of taking this bloody job, what do we get out of it?" Asked Demoman with his entire team agreeing on that question right away. A team of mercenaries can't simply take a job without knowing what the employer's got as a reward for them. That's like number one out of two of the most basic ways for an employer to swindle mercs to do their dirty work!

"I cannot provide you a clear answer to your question, Mister Conagher. That is something you must figure out for yourself, but as for your question Mister DeGroot? Well, it is simple. I can take you all home." Answered the stranger with a slight smile. "Of course you may continue working on your Teleporter if you like as I am sure you will get it to function eventually, but I assure you that I will take you all home and provide you with anything you men would like. However, with that in mind, expect that I will come to you for your services at any time. I will be a... periodic employer, if you understand what I mean."

The mercenaries looked at each other after hearing that. After witnessing firsthand the kind of powers this stranger had, there was no reason to assume that he can't send them home in a heartbeat. Something the gang was more than willing to take if it meant they don't got to be in this world no more. "Well... I suppose we've already taken the job then since we stopped that bank robbery." Sighed the Frenchman before he turned to face his teammates. "Gentlemen?"

"Eh, sure." Shrugged Sniper.

"Heavy will do it if it means I get to destroy evil men and see family again." Confirmed the Russian as he cracked his knuckles.

"Hell yeah!" Cheered Scout.

"Aye!" Nodded Demoman with a big smile across his face.

And so on with the rest of the team confirming they wanted to take the job, and almost uncharacteristically enthusiastic at that. Then again, who wouldn't be when this could lead to them going home?

"Then it is settled. Whoever you are, we accept." Said Spy as he walked to the stranger and held his hand out for a handshake. The stranger gave off that slight smile which appeared to be the only way he can express friendliness as he took the Frenchman's hand and shook it.

"An excellent choice, gentlemen. Now, if you will excuse me, I really must get going. I have matters that I must attend to..." Said the stranger as he walked out of the circle of men, and a green portal suddenly opened up right in front of him, kind of surprising the mercenaries but not really after the other things they've witnessed him doing. "One last thing. You may call me 'The G-Man'. It's what I'm often referred to by... many individuals." Said the now identified G-Man as he stepped into the portal. Wherever the other side of the portal was, it sounded like utter Hell as alarms, explosions, and shouting from men can be heard on the other side.

"ATTENTION ALL BLACK MESA PERSONNEL-" An electronic voice said before The G-Man entered the portal, closing it soon after.

The entire team blinked once at his disappearance. They really shouldn't be all that surprised by now after he magically teleported them around instantly, but with the job put on them and the things he said was a lot for them to take in.

"...what in the Hell did we just get ourselves into?" Went Engineer after a brief moment of silence.

"Beats me, but hey! Least we finally got a job, fellas! Now we got something to do in this stupid world instead of being bored out of our minds all day." Whistled the Scout.

With that little talk with The G-Man over with, the mercs set about their base getting prepared for anything. Now that they know for sure that they were going to be stuck in Remnant for a while, the gents went to work making this factory a much more permanent base if they wished to face down these enemy mercenaries. Stronger fortifications, better defenses, and more suitable living conditions in general were all necessary for a lasting base of operations. That in mind, it meant that they needed to get more supplies to do all these things.

Looks like another trip to the city it is then!

Spy's got to get his car back anyway. Again...

* * *

 **Vale**

General Ironwood was at a loss for words.

The siege of the bank took a sudden violent turn when the bank robbers started shooting at the Atlesians without any provocation, but then only a few minutes after the firefight began did the bank robbers suddenly retreat inside the building. Ironwood questioned why they would do so when they were fighting toe-to-toe with Atlas so well, and as such he told his units to wait a couple minutes for he did not trust it. He sensed that there was a trap being set for them inside the bank somewhere or they at least pulled back to the better defensive positions inside the tight spaces of the building. When he finally gave the order for his men to converge on the bank from all sides with him leading them personally, he was stunned to see that the bank was filled with nothing but corpses. Corpses of the militaristic bank robbers that is. On every floor the soldiers searched was there not a single soul alive, only dead robbers who were shooting at them less than ten minutes ago.

Strangely, there were no signs of any civilians anywhere. There wasn't so much as even a corpse of a dead civilian among the many bodies piled in here. The General sensed that there was definitely something off here. Some unknown third party somehow came inside the bank and massacred the bank robbers judging by how the placement of some of the bodies implied they died trying to fight something off. It's either that or there was some kind of little civil war between the bank robbers, which is extremely unlikely since even if that were true there should be some survivors to tell of what happened here. Whatever this third party was is a complete mystery as there were no corpses that were not the robbers.

Even the security room was searched for any clue of what had happened here, but the robbers had completely destroyed everything inside that room before whatever killed them off came along and did Atlas's job for them.

"I want every inch of this building examined for clues." Ordered the General to his men as he stepped over several corpses. He cursed at the fact that they didn't even so much as a single survivor behind to tell what happened to them.

"Sir! I have the casualty report." A soldier said after saluting the General. The General saluted him back and allowed him to say what he had to say. "We have eight men killed in action and twelve wounded. AK-200 unit losses are at fifty-eight." Reported the soldier.

"Hmmm... thank dust that we didn't lose so many." Sighed the General, glancing at a dead man who dressed like he was some kind of officer. Then, the General realized something. He got so caught up with the siege and the short battle that ensued after, that he completely forgot about Penny. His eyes darted around the place in search of the robot girl, but she was missing.

" _Penny..._ " Sighed the General. He leaves her side for a second and she's already gone. No doubt that girl's out in the city doing who knows what.

 **...**

Ruby and Penny left the site of the siege soon after things looked like they calm down. There wasn't a lot that either of them could do about the situation, and it was actually Penny this time around who decided to leave. The robot girl knew this was one of those rare opportunities for her to spend time with one of her few friends, and she was willing to take it and run with it before she is caught by Atlesian soldiers.

That may be true that she's spending time with Ruby, but the poor huntress wasn't in so much of a mood for hanging out with a friend. Penny may be a robot who's still learning how to understand emotions and such, but even she could recognize when someone was feeling down.

"Ruby? What's wrong?" Asked the robot girl as they walked into a closed off street where Vytal festival goers were out and about.

"Huh? Oh, nothing..." Ruby sighed.

"Really? It does not look like nothing. Is something making you sad?"

"...It's just that so much crime has been happening in Vale lately, and during the Vytal Festival too! First we got the White Fang trying to ruin everything for everyone, then we got these vigilante guys breaking the law to stop them, and now we have high tech bank robbers running around the place!" Penny was going to say something, but Ruby kept on ranting on. "I was with one of those vigilante guys not too long before he walked away with some man and vanished! POOF! Gone just like that! I don't where he went or _how_ he hot away, but I can't believe he would leave me after I gave him my trust! HE BOUGHT ME ICE CREAM! Humphm! What a jerk!"

"You have met them, Ruby?" Wondered the curious robot to which the huntress sighed.

"Yeah... and they're a bunch of jerks. My team and I tried to take them in, but they beat us up! TWICE! And the second time we had help from our friends and we _STILL_ lost to them!"

"Are they really that bad?" Asked Penny since she has no experience with these guys whatsoever.

"I mean, yes? Maybe? Not really? I don't even know anymore..." Sighed Ruby. "Like, I guess they're not actually bad people, but they're still mean!"

"It sounds like you have gotten on the wrong foot with them, Ruby." The naive robot girl said. "Perhaps they are not as mean as you think they are?"

"Well..." Trailed Ruby as she thought back to all of their previous encounters. She already kinda mentioned it, but Heavy was pretty nice to her before you know, he fucking disappeared. "Maybe... Ugh, you're sounding like Blake and Team JNPR. Wanting me to be nice to them and stuff..."

"Oh don't be so grumpy, Ruby! If they really are not bad people, then I am sure that they will become friends with you if you apologize to them." Smiled the cheery robot.

"Friends? With _them_?" Went the huntress as if what Penny said was offensive. Even with Heavy earlier, she wouldn't go so far as to say that he was a friend, but more like an acquaintance. Much less with the rest of them since besides Heavy, she didn't know a single thing about them other than they were kinda... weird.

"Yes! I am sure it will be fun!" Penny smiled.

Ruby couldn't help but let out a sigh at Penny's naive nature. She may look like a regular girl on the outside, but Ruby was pretty much the only non-Atlesian military person who knew that Penny was a robot. A robot with a soul and emotions, but as said above, she's still got a lot to learn. Still, her awkward yet genuine nature of eager friendliness brought a smile to her face. Penny was a one of a kind friend, and in so many ways at that.

"Ugh... whatever you say Penny..." The huntress sighed. "Soooo... what do you want to do now?" Asked Ruby in a brighter tone, much to the robot girl's delight.

"Oooooh! Can we go shopping? I always wanted to go shopping like a real girl!" Bounced the cheery robot as she took Ruby's hand and led her to nowhere in particular.

Penny had a very vague idea of what shopping was like, and so she sorta took Ruby all over the place, going from stand to stand and sometimes even completely random stores for no other reason than she thought she was acting like a real girl. Ruby followed her around with a nervous smile as she knew that Penny was only making the best out of what little time she had left, but she soon decided to correct Penny's line of thinking when the robot girl very nearly led them into a nightclub where youngins liked them most DEFINITELY did not belong.

"Whooooaaa theeerrreee... slow down, Penny." Went Ruby as she slowed the robot girl just before she could even make another step towards the place. "Penny, do you even know what girls go shopping for?"

"Girls go shopping for anything that catches their interest." She answered in her naive robot way, her eager face giving off a cute vibe that Ruby had to shake off.

"I mean... yeah? I guess you're right about that, but this place uh..." Trailed Ruby as she glanced at the nightclub. There actually was a bouncer at the entrance of the nightclub, and he was clearly glaring at the two of them underneath his red sunglasses. "...is not made for girls like us." Finished the huntress, flashing the bouncer a shy smile before leading Penny away from the nightclub. "Come on. Let's go find someone who's selling snacks!" Said Ruby with a smile, to which Penny's eyes widened at the thought.

"Oh! Will I finally know what sweets taste like? I have yet to test my taste sensors in the outside world, but I am more than willing to try them now!"

"Uhhh... sure! _Hehe..._ " Softly laughed Ruby nervously. While she doesn't actually know anything about Penny's past or any experiences she's had, the robot girl lets off some hints every now and then that raise some concerns in the little huntress. Penny looked absolutely excited to be able to try something that real people do, but then her face went blank when she realized something. Something she neglected to think about in her previous excitement to be with a friend.

"Oh no, but what if people find out I am a robo-" She quickly covered her mouth up before saying it, giving Ruby a look in the eye in hopes that she knew what Penny meant. Of course she did, but much to Penny's surprise, Ruby kinda shrugged it off.

"Penny, I don't see the problem here. You look just like a real girl. Nobody's going to think you are a robot unless you do, you know, robot things. Besides, you've been out in public before and people haven't noticed. You'll be fine!" Assured the huntress with a comforting smile that was just as assuring. Penny understood enough emotion to know that Ruby was being genuine. The robot girl couldn't have possibly asked for a better friend.

* * *

 **Secret White Fang Warehouse Base, Vale Harbor**

Cinder was not impressed. She with Roman and the rest of the White Fang had been watching the live news coverage of the bank heist as the very same bank robbers were teleporting back and forth from here to there with several stolen dust containers and gold. Out of the sixty man company sent out to prove their worth to Cinder's cause, only nineteen of them came back alive.

Cinder herself never told these mercenaries to go out and do this for she didn't need anymore factors to worry about in her grand plan, but the commanding officer of the company insisted that their services will be of great use to her. To prove his point, he told his men to assault a major bank in the city and come back with dust and gold in the hopes that this can sway her into joining forces with them.

Now admittedly, Cinder was impressed for most of the heist as somehow by means she couldn't possibly understand, but sixty heavily armed and equipped military-grade men somehow traveled through the city undetected and successfully took control of the bank with absolutely zero difficulty. The fact that they took over a bank without any trouble wasn't that impressive since they were armed with far more guns than any security at the bank would have, but what was impressive was their professional discipline and training. They absolutely put the vast majority of White Fang grunts to shame with how they were far superior and way more competent, and Cinder legitimately considered taking them in if they were willing to display their effectiveness in battle and share their teleporter technology.

Which was not going to happen since things suddenly went to shit real fast. The commanding officer of the company had a radio operator here relaying communications from the bank to here, and it caught everyone off guard to suddenly hear thousands of frantic calls at once from the company as they came under attack by an unknown force. He relayed orders to the men to remain calm and stand against the attackers, but then things got even worse when it was revealed on the news that a firefight began between the Atlesians and his men.

Due to the situation deteriorating so quickly that it was fucked up beyond all recognition, the commanding officer called in a full retreat. Next thing he knew, only nineteen of his men came back, not including him and the radio operator. All these men were in the vault when the attack began, and they had no idea what was going on outside except that it sounded like utter Hell as they heard their fellow mercenaries screaming amongst the sounds of battle. They were called back in before they ever had a chance to see who was attacking them.

"I think I have seen enough, colonel..." Cinder began as she faced the commanding officer, now identified at the rank of colonel. "Your services are not needed here. Now leave."

"Are you absolutely sure about that? My bosses would-" Cinder cut him off when her eyes suddenly caught on fire. The colonel was a man who has seen many things before in his experience, and he did not flinch at the sight of her. Still, he knew by that same experience that he should hold his tongue.

" _Leave..._ " Cinder repeated herself. "You have no place here. All your men have done is perish and caused even more alarm to our enemies. You're making things more difficult..."

The colonel stared her straight in the eyes, showing no fear. He said nothing for a moment for he was in thought, and then he slowly nodded his head. "Alright, fine. Have it your way. We'll leave, but our offer still stands if you choose to join forces."

"I will keep that in mind." Cinder nodded.

The remains of the mercenary company headed out soon after that, allowed to keep all the stolen goods they had for themselves instead of having Cinder keep it as offering as intended. They left through the use of the sewer system where they'll quietly head towards their secret base of operations. The survivors were very discouraged by this as not only did they fail their mission, but never before has this company been defeated in such a crushing manner before. They don't even know who the bastards that defeated them were! No one who saw them made it to the vault before they pulled out of there. It's even more painful when the other half of the company had been brought in only **last night** through multiple portals across the city for... for... _this!_ For most of them to die in less than twenty-four hours of being in this world. It filled them with hatred...

Once they were gone, Cinder let out a sigh. Things were only getting even stranger in Vale...

That colonel somehow knew where to find the White Fang base and asks to see her, claims that he and several other men are mercenaries from another world called "Earth", and he immediately proposes that their two factions join forces with the promise that there will be more mercenaries like him and his men along the way, and that they will assist Cinder with whatever her goals were should she do the same for them.

She questioned right away how the actual fuck these guys knew who she was and where to find the White Fang. When she asked the colonel in command of the company questions about why they were doing this and how they knew of her, he only said that it was "classified information" and offered her a display of their prowess as his men were already ready to attack the bank regardless if she wanted them to or not. You seen how she felt about that above.

Out of nowhere, there was now yet another faction in Vale while her own faction was already dealing with Ozpin's faction. The other faction of course being the unknown vigilantes who have struck such blows to the Fang that they've unexpectedly caused actual loyalty issues in her ranks, and they only done it twice!

Maybe she was merely overreacting. Maybe these mercenaries will prove to be helpful to her cause, but just not now. Now is not the time. She'll have to wait and see how Ironwood reacts to decide if she can afford making these mercenaries a part of her grand plan.

The general already reacted to the disturbances in the past couple of days by intensifying the Hell out of the Atlesian presence in the streets, and that was a good thing for her as it made the citizens even more uneasy than they already were by the disturbances. There was no doubt in her mind that this now pointless bank heist stirred up so much more fear and shock in the people of Remnant than the previous incidents combined, so she guessed that they actually were helpful in that sense.

Well, she'll just have to wait for about a day to see what the effects this event has had on the kingdom and the world at large.


	15. Chapter 15

**MiR V2 Chp. 15 A0**

 **Unfinished**

* * *

"Uh... Penny? Are you okay? Hello? Penny? _Peeeeeennnnny?_ "

Ruby was a little concerned for her robo friend Penny Polendina right now. They simply went up to a dude who was selling homemade cotton candy, bought two sticks for the both of them, and Ruby kindly asked Penny to have the first bite. Now Ruby was expecting Penny to go absolutely insane at having such a tasty treat and the girl eagerly awaited for the android's reaction...

...only for Penny to freeze up, stiffer than metal. Well, she _is_ made of metal and other artificial material, but you get the point. Penny simply froze on the spot as if she had been poisoned. Now of course she wasn't poisoned because she was immune to all forms of poison for obvious reasons, but Ruby seems to have forgotten that fact.

"Penny? Talk to me! Please say something..." Ruby worriedly begged.

She got desperate enough to actually try poking the robo girl in the face to see if anything would happen, and when her delicate finger made contact with Penny's synthetic but realistic skin, Penny let out an ear piercing cry that scared Ruby half to death. Only that it was no ordinary deafening cry of terror, but a cry of sheer joy! Apparently, Penny's artificial taste sensors had been so overwhelmed with the sensation of sweetness given by the cotton candy that she had a temporary system overload or some tech shit like that. Point is that the sheer sweet taste had caused her systems to lock up like that, and now that she was moving again. The first thing she did was absolutely murder the large puff of cotton candy in only a few delightful bites. One second there was a full stick of cotton candy, the other it was totally gone.

"Wha..? Huh... I guess you really like cotton candy!" Ruby brightened up, smiling and even giggling at Penny's sheer satisfaction of the snack. Her reaction was even better than she thought it would be! Even if a little scary, but still pretty great.

"Wow! Who knew being able to taste food like a real girl would be so much fun?" The cheery robot beamed.

"Hehehe, that would have to be every girl, Penny." Ruby giggled.

"Can we taste more food?" Penny eagerly asked with an almost puppy-like feel to her, complete with her own version of puppy eyes and everything.

"Sure we can! Just don't go too crazy on the food, okay?" Ruby chuckled, gently pushing Penny back away from her.

Penny simply nodded her head rapidly where she was more than ready to go on an eating spree when a bright flash of light that came seemingly out of nowhere. It was very brief but the brightness of the flash was intense enough to momentarily blind everyone on the street. Once people's visions started returning to them, they saw that a freaking cactus had apparently fallen out of the sky and came very close to landing on some poor dude and pricking him the fuck up.

"What the!?" Ruby shrieked, but then that wasn't the last of the flashes. There was another flash further down the street that dropped a goddamn horse, and there was another one that was visible from the next block over that they weren't able to see what it dropped. "What the heck is going on here?"

"I do not know Ruby, but it seems like these strange flashes of light are leaving behind random objects." Penny said with her oh so excellent observatory skills being a robot with scanners and such. That's not even sarcasm since she absolutely does, and there's little to deny that what she said is exactly what was happening right now. "How strange... These flashes are oddly familiar."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ruby asked as she was intensely curious about this like anyone else was.

"These flashes are not too different from the large flash that appeared on the morning of the first vigilante attack a few days ago, but I do not see any attacks happening anywhere and they all appear to be random objects." Finished the robo girl.

"Like the first vigilante attack?" Trailed the huntress, getting lost in thought as she remembered all the info she had learned about that event.

Granted there wasn't a lot to go by, but the thought of Team Fortress got her blood boiling a bit. How Heavy just disappeared on here practically right after they became sorta friends... Just wait until she sees him again. She's gonna give him a piece of her mind next time she sees him. Being the big dumb jerk he is like the rest of his stupid team...

"Ruby? Why do you look so sad again?" Penny asked in all her glorious naivety.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing Penny. You just reminded me about those vigilante jerks again..." The girl grumped. She grumpily raised her head to look at Penny, but then this is where Ruby's whole soul immediately brightened up. The mere sight of her robo friend gave her a splendid idea! "That's it! Penny! You can help me find these vigilante guys and take them down!"

"Oh?" The girl tilted her head.

"With my awesome skills and your just as awesome swords, we can kick their butts no problem! Then we'll see who the loser is after we rub it in their stupid faces!" Almost like a villain, Ruby cackled that last line out maniacally complete with her hands wringing together and a metaphorical fire in her eyes. Truly the lowest form of evil...

"But... Ruby. Didn't I say you should apologize to them?" Penny said, tilting her head. Ruby cringed internally at being reminded of that, her evil grin vanishing.

"I... uh... well, _yeeeaah_... I did say that, and _technically_ I did apologize to one of them..." Ruby admitted.

"Hmm... I feel like you still want to have revenge on them." She plainly pointed out.

"... _ugh._ Yeah, yeah I do, Penny." The huntress guiltily admitted, hanging her head down a bit in shame.

"I have never seen you like this before, Ruby. Do you really hate them that much for making you look bad?" The robo girl asked.

"Hate them? Well... It's not like I actually _hate_ them, but I just want to get back at them for being so mean to us!"

"I may be built for combat, but even I know that the best way to solve problems is a peaceful solution. So, how about instead of me helping you find them and 'kick their butts', I can help you find them so you can apologize to the rest of them?" The robo smiled innocently, still making Ruby cringe at the thought of saying sorry to them. Saying sorry to Heavy was one thing since he was easily one of the nicest members of the team, but as for the rest of them? Ehhh...

Ruby didn't have time to give a response before Penny started dragging her along with her robo grip. "Come on! Let's go." She chirped with a hand firmly over Ruby's wrist, her friend trying to get free to no avail.

 **(...)**

Spy and Medic were walking towards the scene of the bank siege where Spy's car was on the block straight down from this street, now not so much of a siege anymore since it's over. The two of them had been dropped off by Engineer and Heavy so that Spy can get his car back, while the rest of the team was honestly doing whatever the fuck at this point. They were supposed to be turning their factory into a full on fortress, but a lot of them broke off to do their own thing as they ran out of supplies to upgrade the place. As for Engineer and Heavy, the Texan had taken the randomly arrived RED truck to go on a supply run with the Russian acting as heavy lifting, no pun intended.

"So this councilman said he is willing to get us jobs as huntsmen?" Spy asked of Medic as the German was telling him what he was told from Mister Black.

"Ja. He said all we had to do was kill monsters and keep ze peace. I think zat's also what zose pesky kids said they vere as well." Medic said.

"Indeed, it is. Well, it would have been a good offer if we didn't get an infinitely more enticing job." The Frenchman said, referring to G-Man earlier.

"You know, I thought so too, but... ve do not have any form of income here. Zer's only so much ve can get from donations and ze like zat I think we should take ze huntsmen jobs. Plus we are nearly out of money!" The German said, making Spy mentally slap himself for forgetting that for all intents and purposes, they were still broke in a world where they were expected to be operating until further notice. Almost all of the money they got from donations the other day had been spent already, and he just knew that Engineer was going to call in and say they-

" _Hey fellas, we ain't got any money left!_ " Yep. Exactly. Engineer said that into the team radio and the crew cringed at hearing they were broke again. " _I'll see what me and Heavy can do with gathering up money, but I tell you fellas, we can't be going out doin' acts all the time._ "

Yep. Called it.

Spy sighed after hearing Engie confirm it. "Ugh... becoming huntsmen does not sound too bad all of a sudden..." The Frenchman had considered taking some money from the bank, but he decided against it as it was not the professional thing to do. Didn't matter how rowdy and insane Team Fortress was, there had to be _someone_ to have some class and standards among them.

Soon they reached the area of the bank siege where there was still a smaller crowd gathered up at the police line, watching the Atlesian soldiers work. Now that the firefight at the bank was over, civilians had been coming back to the scene to see how bad the damage was. It was a strange habit of people, really. Whenever the danger's done with, they always come back to check the aftermath no matter what it is. Both Medic and Spy smiled a little at seeing the place where they performed probably the most successful surprise attack they've ever done in the history of their team. An experience worth being proud over if I do say so myself.

"Excuse me, but can we have a word please?" A female news reporter walked up to them with a camera team following her, and they both recognized her as Lisa Lavender. The same one who questioned them about the whole shopping cart incident last night, and she appeared to recognize them as well. "Wait, aren't you the men who was in that giant shopping cart last night? And..." She trailed as she squinted at Medic's face, recognizing him for something she didn't notice last night. "And aren't you the man who had the healing beam in that viral video a few days ago?"

"Yes." Both mercs answered plainly and simultaneously.

"Huh... what a strange coincidence seeing you again. Anyways, I am Lisa Lavender and I am with the Vale News Network. I would like to ask you what your opinions on the recent bank siege are."

"I think zat someone's done a good job putting a stop to it." Medic smiled, glancing at Spy.

"So you're saying that General Ironwood is the right man for Vytal Festival security after he replaced Headmaster Ozpin who previously held the position?"

"General? You mean ze military? Oh, Heaven's no! Zey are completely worthless!" The German chuckled, somewhat shocking the reporter and the people watching it live that he was bold enough to insult the Atlesians just like zat.

"I... um, well how about the recent appaerance of the mysterious vigilante group? Do you think that they are little better than the White Fang which they have targeted or do you think that they are citizens taking justice into their own hands since you feel like the General is not competent at his job?"

Noticeably, the mention of vigilantes made both Spy and Medic frowned. Why does everyone think they are vigilantes? I mean sure that almost all the people watching this broadcast live wouldn't know that they were members of the supposed vigilantes, but all they did is kill a bunch of people who tried to kill them first! Except these enemy mercenaries, but that's a completely different story.

"I like to think that they are viewing this broadcast right now." Spy said. He then had an idea. It may have been a stupid idea that could completely backfire on him and ruin everything, but it was better than nothing. "I feel like a common saying where I am from sums up both of our opinions on them perfectly." Straightening up his tie, he looked directly into the camera where he uttered out these words in French. "Vous n'êtes pas de ce monde, et nous non plus." He finished, nodding toward the camera in an almost challenging manner.

"And what does that mean?" Lisa asked with interest since she or anyone else on the planet has never heard this language before.

"It simply means that they are not worth worrying over." He lied with a smile.

"Excuse me, but what language is that? I never heard of it before."

"French." Spy said firmly, looking at the camera once again. "It's a... sort of a traditional language if you will. People hardly ever speak it unless it is for ceremonies."

"Interesting... and where are you two from?" She asked curiously.

"Mistral." He lied once again, calling back to info he learned only earlier today. "Now if you will excuse us, my colleague and I have someplace to be."

With that done with, Medic and Spy hastily left to get to their car already. Lisa attempted to stop them so she could ask them more things, but she soon dropped it and instead carried on with questioning other people. Not even a few minutes of walking later did a few brief flashes of light happen and random objects were dropped into the world once again. The items weren't really anything unique or special as some of them were just empty boxes, but the citizens still reacted with surprise at the flashes.

"What is happening? Why are all zese things being teleported to zis world?" Medic wondered just as he and Spy reached the Frenchman's car.

"I don't know, but I believe it has something to do with our new employer..." Spy trailed, thinking back to the G-Man's supernatural powers and noticeable reaction to seeing the teleportations happening.

"You think he is responsible for all of zis?"

"It's highly likely that he at least knows something about this, or it could have something to do with our new enemies." He suggested, before promptly taking off in his disguised car. "Speaking of which, he never told us where exactly to find our enemy or how to stop them, and so I called them out on live TV." Spy grinned. "If these enemy mercenaries are competent, then they should always keep an eye on the news for intelligence gathering purposes."

"Hmm? So Oh... zat's why you spoke in French then, ja?" Medic asked.

"Oui mon ami. I expect that there will be a manhunt for us now..."

 **(...)**

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" An Atlesian soldier yelled as he and his partner were chasing down Ruby Rose and Penny Polendina.

Ruby and Penny were unfortunate enough to have been spotted by Atlesian soldiers on the lookout for the escaped robo girl, and were now running frantically through the streets to escape with the soldiers hot on their heels. "DON'T STOP RUNNING!" Ruby cried out to Penny who didn't need to be told that as she was right by Ruby's side.

It was very similar to last time Ruby was with Penny, except now that with all these people from all over the world inside the city now, the streets are very crowded and it was hard to move anywhere. The good thing was that it also slowed down the Atlesian soldiers, but it didn't matter much since it also slowed them down too. Worse yet was that sooner or later, more Atlesian soldiers were going to come and chase them with the increased military presence in the city. It's a miracle that the siege in the bank pulled in practically every soldier in the goddamn city, but there's bound to be patrols still around.

"PENNY POLENDINA! STOP!" A soldier ordered the girl, but she refused to listen. She didn't know how much longer she would refuse to listen though as she worried about Ruby. Her friend managed to get away last time they were chased, but she's not so sure about this time and so she worried about what kind of trouble Ruby would get into if caught. "STOP RUNNING, DAMN IT!"

"Ruby, go on without me!" Penny told the huntress, but just as Penny refused to listen to the soldiers, Ruby refused to listen to her. Instead, Ruby took hold of Penny's hand and led her around as they continued to run. She tried darting in an out of the streets crowded with festival goers where she hoped the soldiers would eventually lose them, but it's all no good.

Getting desperate, Ruby took Penny though a street that was not closed off to traffic. The soldiers were almost right on top of them at this point, and as one soldier came mere inches away from snagging Penny, both he and his partner had been lifted up into the sky by one huge man. Penny and Ruby instantly stopped in their tracks and turned around to see what happened, and Ruby's eyes went wide to see Heavy was holding both soldiers, his giant hands firmly over their helmeted heads. Apparently, Ruby was so frantic in her bid to escape that she almost completely ignored running past Heavy had he not chosen to help them.

"What is meaning of this?" He asked calmly while the soldiers struggled with all their might.

"Let go of us, damn it!" A soldier yelled before ineffectively punching Heavy in the face. The only effect that had was pissing him off, and the Russian was quick to smash both of their heads together so hard that cracks spread across their helmets, knocking them both out instantly where he unceremoniously dropped them with a thud.

"Um... thank you for your help, kind sirs, but I did not feel like that was necessary." Penny said, but still grateful to him as she faced the large man with her signature smile. It was almost comical how small Penny was compared to him since he towered over her like nothing. She even held her hand out for him to shake, but that was stopped quickly when Ruby moved her aside and shouted in his face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" The tiny huntress yelled at the giant.

"Raising money so we can buy things." Heavy plainly answered, pointing a thumb behind him. With a grumpy face, she looked past him and saw that Engineer was actually here to and he was playing guitar for donations. "What are you doing getting chased by soldiers?"

"None of your business, you jerk!" She cried, standing up on her tippy toes to reach his face which might I add didn't look threatened in the slightest. Again, Ruby was only slightly more intimidating than a fluffy pillow with a frowny face stitched on it to him.

"Ruby? Do you know this man?" Penny asked curiously.

"Yeah. Penny, this is Heavy. He's one of those stupid vigilantes I was telling you about!" Ruby said begrudgingly, glaring at the Russian.

"Oh! Salutations! I am Penny Polendina." The robo girl eagerly introduced herself.

"Zdravstvuyte. I am Mikhail Medvedev or Heavy Weapons Guy. Just Heavy is also fine." He nodded at the robo girl who seemed absolutely delighted that at least this one was a nice guy after all. "And why are you mad again, Ruby?"

"BECAUSE! How could you just leave me behind like that!? You said you were going to come back, but you never did!"

"Oh, I am sorry. Heavy had job to do. Those men at the bank were not going to kill themselves." He shrugged, but the girls did not believe him in the slightest. There was no possible way that he and his entire team somehow sneaked into the bank without Atlas or the bank robbers noticing, and then stopped them all by themselves! "We also rescued hostages..."

"Pfffft! As if!" Ruby scoffed, but then Penny gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby, please. Don't be so rude to him. I'm sure he had his reasons for leaving you." Penny calmly told her.

"You should listen to her, Ruby. She is smart."


End file.
